In a dusty corner of a sculptor’s studio lies one of the more dramatic casualties of the troubles currently besetting Kuona Trust Arts Centre… a clay head of Wangari Maathai, her eyes staring vacantly into space.

The headless clay body of the environmental icon is in another corner of the compound, propped upright by steel rods, while a sense of what her finished statue might look like can be seen in a foot-high Marquette on a shelf in yet another studio.

The huge contribution of the Nobel Laureate, who in life came to be an icon of environmental excellence and in death a national treasure, was to have been commemorated with a life-size statue presented to the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa in January this year by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta. A grand and eloquent gesture of what the funeral pages of our daily press call, “A life well lived.”

Such a statue honours the woman but perhaps more importantly in that international setting, it also honours her country and shows the world that Africa has good reason to take pride in this daughter of Kenyan soil.

Instead, the statue is still in pieces, and the sculptor who is making it left wondering whether it will ever be finished and what happened to the money he was to have been given for its creation.

That sculptor, Kevin Oduor — the man who made the statue of Independence hero Dedan Kimathi that stands next to the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi’s central business district — was astonished to be confronted recently by a team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who commissioned the statue, asking to view its progress.

“I had to explain that I had not started work because I was still waiting for money to kick-start the commission,” an embarrassed Oduor told me. “Then I was just floored when they told me that in fact the ministry had paid up front — and it was more than $10,000 — but sent their cheque straight to the Kuona Trust.”

The men from the ministry were quite right, as a flurry of emails between Trust director Sylvia Gachie and ministry official Glenns Etyang, a Foreign Service Officer, later showed.

August 29, 2016 — Etyang to Gachie: “This is serious, considering records here show you have been paid in full and yet no delivery, which has already put procurement in hot soup because of that……”

Later the same day – Gachie to Etyang: “Kindly send me a number I can contact you on directly to discuss this further.”

September 1, 2016 – Gachie to Oduor, copied to Etyang: “I have addressed the money issue with Glenns whom I informed what happened to the amount owed to you…… we will continue to address the money issue.”

Oduor was given some of the ministry money, public funds, by Kuona management but as he put it, “in dribs and drabs” and that enabled him to begin work on the sculpture.

A team from the ministry eventually visited Oduor at his Kuona studios and he was able to show them the clay model, the headless body, and a first draft of the head, which was later shown to Maathai family members for their comments.

The Kuona was entitled to 20 per cent of Oduor’s total fee as commission but with only relatively small amounts paid to the artist, the largest being a lump sum of around $2,000.

Where is the money?

The question at the heart of the Maathai statue mystery is, “Where has the rest of the money gone?”

The statue’s presentation to the AU by President Kenyatta has now been put back 12 months to January next year, with delivery needed in December to give time for the clearance formalities in Ethiopia.

Ministry official Etyang told me this week that the ministry had agreed with Kuona on a new deadline for the statue to be finished and delivered; the first week of November — next week.

He went on: “This statue is something the president promised to give. We paid for everything in advance and we have been really let down.”

However Oduor revealed this week that the money for materials has run out and that work on the sculpture has now stopped again.

The ministry deadline cannot be met.

Now what was to have been a source of pride for the family and the nation has instead become a source of embarrassment.

Humiliation

Whether the debacle over payment to the artist for the statue in itself triggered the humiliation that followed, or whether it was merely another symptom of the Trust’s problems remains to be seen.

But humiliation certainly has marked the Kuona’s recent affairs --- claims of an alleged $70,000 hole in the Trust’s accounts; all staff sent home; (unpaid now for some four months); the power cut off; and trustees bypassing their own management to talk directly to the artists.

Whatever the trigger it soon became clear that not only the 35 artists, including Oduor, who depend on Kuona for support and their studios had become concerned about the unfolding events.

A major donor, the Swedish Forum Syd, became anxious about Kuona’s finances and what the non-governmental organisation’s country manager Stephen Gichohi told me were, “a number of non-compliance issues with Kuona Trust which were not addressed within the stipulated timeline.”

He added that this had, “led to our commissioning of a special audit in line with the grant agreement.”

Forum Syd entered into its grant agreement with Kuona Trust in November last year.

The total grant was $320,541 and the first tranche of $83,726 was made last year covering the period from November to June this year. That is the amount so far paid out to Kuona — and the amount Forum Syd is investigating through its special audit, to verify what Gichohi called, “some of the compliance issues we have raised with Kuona during the grant implementation period.”

Special audit results

He went on: “Not all the expenditures under this amount are in question hence we can only wait for the special audit report to know the true picture of the status of this project.”

Compliance issues raised included, “insufficient supporting documents on expenditure and lack of proper adherence to agreed procedure to incur expenditure.”

Ironically, some might think, the grant had included money for training Kuona staff in proper financial grant management.

The results of the NGO’s special audit are now said to have been assessed and the chairman of the Kuona Board of Trustees, Chris Ngovi, was understood to be meeting Kuona management to discuss the outcome last week.

Before this key meeting, Gichohi commented, “We have worked closely with the chairperson of the board of Kuona trustees during this special audit process and we look forward to having a way forward…”

What that way forward might be has not yet been disclosed.

But Gichohi did add: “We will disclose the findings of the special audit as well as subsequent decisions in line with the project agreement.”

However, what is known is that Forum Syd, based in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, has an excellent record in investigating often complex financial affairs.

For example, it was Forum Syd whose recent collaboration with filmmakers Africa Uncensored produced the documentary Kibubusa cha Kanjo (Kanjo Kingdom) that led to the arrest of three top local government officials in Nairobi. They are now awaiting trial on charges of extorting millions of shillings from hawkers.

Fighting corruption

The NGO believes in helping people to know their rights and obligations and in effecting social and political change through culture and the arts, with a particular emphasis on fighting corruption.

It has had a link with Kuona Trust since the end of 2015 when it began a three-year project supported through its Wajibu Wetu (It’s our responsibility) programme on advancing democratic culture, accountability and gender equality through arts, culture, media and what it calls, “gender focused initiatives.”

It is known that typical contracts between Forum Syd and grantees are meticulous in their probity.

The NGO insists on full documentation for all spending and their procurement processes demand three quotations for every purchase except in exceptional circumstances — if there is only one known supplier, for instance — that even then have to be explained in writing before approval is given.

Forum Syd also lays down timelines for each part of a project that has to be adhered to before the next tranche of grant aid is released. Quarterly reports on progress of the supported programme and its financial implications are another requirement.

However the NGO is recognised as fair-minded should the finances, procurement processes and timelines occasionally go awry providing the explanations for that are clear and deemed reasonable.

Sting in the tail

Attempts to elicit a comment from Trust director Gachie, proved unsuccessful, other than a text message asking for all queries to be directed to Trust chairman Ngovi, who was appointed formally only this year.

Kuona Trust director Sylvia Gachie, left, with artist Samuel Githui. PHOTO | FILE

He asked for any questions to be emailed to him but in spite of his promise to reply promptly, he has not done so up to the time of going to press, some four weeks later, notwithstanding reminders.

The names of the three other trustees — the sculptor Maggie Otieno, Rehab Nderu who used to run the Michael Joseph Centre at Safaricom, and businesswoman Wangari Murugu — have been removed from the Kuona website and do not appear in the Trust’s most recent annual reports. They are believed still to be in office although it is unclear whether any of them have signed formal documents of appointment.

Trustees’ duties include oversight of the organisation’s mandate, the efficient and effective use of finances, being available to management to offer advice on the general running of the Trust plus an overview of the Trust’s strategy and helping to advise on any issues and problems that might arise.

The sting in the tail is that legally trustees are personally responsible for any debts and liabilities the Trust might incur.

Dire straits

Even if the Trust emerges unscathed from its present problems — and there is no-one in the art world who wishes it otherwise — it still faces a mountain to climb if it is to survive in its present form.

The rent alone for its centrally located site on almost an acre on Likoni Lane off Dennis Pritt Road near State House, Nairobi, is around $3,000 a month and with staffing costs, the power bill and other overheads it costs an estimated $10,000 a month to run.

The Trust offers some 22 studios plus four sculpture sheds with studio rents ranging from $20 to $60 a month.

The maths do not add up and donors are needed to balance the books.

As well as the administration offices there is an exhibition hall, a library, a kitchen and dining area plus conveniently, a picture framing business.

The Trust also offers exchange programmes through the international Triangle Network, plus workshops for adults and children, beginners and experts, to film shows and is home to a shop that sells both artworks and the materials to create them.

It addresses the lack of proper art education outside universities in Kenya.

Supporting artists

More than 1,000 artists have benefitted from the place since it opened in 1995, then housed in the grounds of the National Museums of Kenya, off Museum Hill, Nairobi.

Well known artists who have worked at the Trust include Peterson Kamwathi, who still occasionally uses the print studio, Thom Ogonga, Michael Soi and Maryanne Muthoni while current stars include Denis Muraguri, John Silver, Maral Bolouri, Jackie Karuti, Aron Boruya, Longinus Nagila and Onyis Martin plus the sculptors Oduor, Anthony Wanjau, and Gakunja Kagwa.

I wrote recently and believe it remains true that Kuona Trust is embedded in East Africa’s artistic and cultural heritage as much as the Margaret Trowell school of art at Makerere University in Kampala or the Oyster Bay Tingatinga collective in Dar.

The best case scenario would be for the Kuona to continue its excellent work supporting artists and in so doing helping to ensure their vital contribution to the region’s life and the enjoyment of its people while, according to some politically sensitive observers, ensuring a widening of the democratic space.

The worst case scenario would be for Kuona to close, ending a 21-year run of active and vital support for the visual arts.

This would be a huge loss not only to the artists but also collectors, schools, tourists and indeed anyone with an interest in the arts.