By BENJAMIN MUINDI
The EastAfrican

As questions about the ownership of Mobitelea continue to be raised by investors, some government officials may be holding documents that provide the key to unlock the mystery of the company.

Mobitelea Ventures was registered in Britain and controls a 12.5 per cent stake in Vodafone Kenya Ltd, which in turn has a 40 per cent stake in Safaricom, the region’s largest mobile phone service provider.

The identity of Mobitelea’s owners is shrouded in mystery with sources pointing to key politicians in the country and their relatives as the owners through nominee firms.

According to the current Parliamentary Investment Committee report, Clause 12.3(a) of the Safaricom charter states, “If a shareholder wishes to sell any part or all of its shareholding in Safaricom, such shareholder shall notify the other parties in writing and show the number of shares to be sold, the transfer price, identity of the person offering to purchase and other terms and conditions.”

East Africans who become Safaricom shareholders, therefore, have a legal basis to demand to know the identity of the owners of Mobitelea.

When The EastAfrican contacted Kenneth Hamish Woller Keith — one of the directors of Vodafone Kenya Ltd — for comment, he denied any knowledge of Mobitelea Ventures.

“We don’t know anything about Mobitelea, except for what we have read and heard in the media,” said Mr Keith, a partner with Daly & Figgis Advocates.

Mr Keith, along with Richard Clark Stewart and Waltherus Hoogstrate were named as directors of Mobitelea by Kroll Associates, in a UK graft-probe report that was presented to the Kenya government last year.

But some government officials may be holding information that could unlock the mystery of Mobitelea.

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, for example, was the Minister for Transport and Communication from 1999 to 2002, when Mobitelea was founded.

During the tenure of Mutahi Kagwe as Minister for Information and Communication, the government fast-tracked plans to sell off part of its stake in Safaricom.

John Waweru was the Communications Commission of Kenya Director General and a board member of Telkom Kenya, which negotiated an extra 10 per cent sale of Safaricom to Vodafone. Augustine Cheserem was the managing director at Telkom Kenya when the deals began.

The company’s file at the Attorney General’s Chambers lists other directors of Mobitelea as Gavin Darby of the UK, Eric de Rijk of the Netherlands and Vodafone International Holdings BV.

As at November 9 last year, the listed directors of Vodafone were Mr Keith, Mr de Rijk, Timothy James Harrabin (a Briton) and Vodafone International Holdings BV.

Daly & Figgis Advocates, one of the oldest law firms in the country, are also the legal advisors of Safaricom.