Kenya international con Mike Macharia’s SST firm goes under – Weekly Citizen

The proverbial 40 days for a thief ran out for Seven Seas Technologies owner Mike Macharia after his firm was blacklisted by the government.
Weekly Citizen had reported sometimes back that the future of SST was bleak and management was in serious crisis.
Macharia who has been worming his way in the business and political circles by dropping the names of political leaders and global businesspeople such as Bill Gates, Ambani Brothers, Barack Obama, Uhuru Kenyatta, Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Nigeria business magnate Aliko Dangote, Donald Trump, William Ruto and all cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries in the Jubilee government is now staring at jail after the government launched investigations on his clandestine activities.
Indeed, Seven Seas Technologies has for years been running dubious operations covered with false financial statements and fabricated public relations stunts.
The company is currently struggling to offset a tax burden worth millions of shillings it owes the Kenya Revenue Authority, even after winning a government tender worth Sh4.7 billion in the ministry of Health that has been cancelled.

Raila and Kibaki

Macharia made his way into the grand coalition government headed by Mwai Kibaki and prime minister Raila Odinga where allegedly through trickery and deceit he bagged numerous lucrative contracts which he never completed.
When the Jubilee government assumed power in 2013, Macharia started going round government offices posing as the younger brother of Transport and Infrastructure cabinet secretary James Macharia.
For his efforts, he was able to secure the Sh4.9 billion contract in the Health ministry but failed to do the job.
Due to cash limitations, Seven Seas Technologies was unable to deliver the multibillion project that sought to centralise data centre at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The government cancelled the Sh4.9 billion contract awarded to the firm to run a data centre connecting various health facilities across the country.

PS Susan Mochache

Health principal secretary Susan Mochache wrote to Seven Seas Technologies Ltd, asking it to stop any further works on the grounds that the contract was awarded illegally.
In a letter dated November 18, the ministry further argues that completion of the Health Care Information Technology system is running behind schedule. It has emerged that Seven Seas is in the red and banking institutions have blacklisted its accounts.
The contract, which was awarded on October 2 2017 during the period the country was negotiating an election was meant to provide HCIT solutions for the Managed Equipment Service project.
The controversial project is an ongoing initiative by the government to equip selected hospitals in the counties with leased theatre, ICU, renal and radiology equipment, among other items.
But appearing before the senate committee, Macharia said his company was awarded the contract to link 121 hospitals with Kenyatta National Hospital to help track patients seeking specialised treatment but was at a crossroads, with equipment worth over Sh250 million meant for the KNH data centre lying at the port of Mombasa since January last year. It has emerged, Macharia was demanding upfront payment from the ministry to facilitate clearance.
Weekly Citizen has established that Macharia may have received kickbacks from international medical suppliers to deliver goods currently stuck at the port on the pretext, the ministry would pay immediately. Other sources say Seven Seas operations in a number of African countries have grounded and suppliers want to place it under receivership for failure to honour payments. No international or local suppliers are dealing with the firm with its Kenya offices facing closure due to rent arrears and lack of salary payments owed to workers that run into millions.
The cancellation of the contract was based on the advice of Attorney General Paul Kihara whose office had declared the award of contract an illegality.
The Seven Seas Technologies has been fighting to save the multi-billion-shilling contract after Kenyatta National Hospital advertised a separate tender for ICT services.
Macharia is rarely seen in office and if he appears, it is just technical. Macharia’s marriage hangs in balance and his one time high flying wife Consolota is rarely seen in public just like her husband.
Macharia had won tender in Rwanda and allegedly conned a Rwandese millions of shillings in the name of incorporating him in the business.
The Rwanda investor was to run the firm’s offices in Kigali. Seven Seas Technologies CEO is wanted in Rwanda and allegedly cannot set foot in Paul Kagame land as he would be arrested.
What is surprising many is that once it is awarded a tender, SST asks for downpayment to start the work. This is as a result of local banks and international financiers’ refusal to fund any project associated with the company.

Macharia

Already, Macharia is in a fix due to the sale of SST stake to the Africa Development Fund of Japanese multinational Toyota valued at an estimated Sh3.2 billion. He is alleged to have conned the Japanese firm in the deal knowing well, SST was financially unsound. The cancelled ministry of Health tender was used in the deal to win the foreigner’s confidence.
The transaction had put the value of Macharia’s 35pc shareholding in the company at Sh1.12 billion.
According to sources, Toyota Tsusho was to inject Sh300 million ($3 million) into Seven Seas in return for a 9.5pc stake.
After the signing and to win more investors, Macharia influenced positive coverage, both locally and internationally, reporting that he was indeed a billionaire.
But later the Japanese investor felt cheated since Macharia did not honour the agreement.
Those who know him revealed that he was born and raised in Nairobi. Not much is known about his education but at one time he surprised his audience when he said he dropped out of a college to become an accountant.
He further claimed his first job was an accountant with a local IT company and was considering flying to the United States to study.
But what he failed to tell his audience is that he was employed a salesman by tycoon called Njoka.
The cunning Macharia at one time shifted to Rwanda where he bagged a project with the national carrier to set up its IT systems.
But in the Rwanda Airline project, the sources add, Macharia acted as a broker and eventually incorporated another firm to handle the project, getting a hefty kickback as it is his norm.
In Rwanda he was helped by a Dutchman, Rob Van Hoek whom he had incorporated as a director in his firm. But Hoek left the firm upon discovering that Macharia was allegedly not trustworthy.
Apart from subletting the Rwanda Airline project, he also brokered one for the country’s military projects and gave it to a third party at a fee.
In Kenya, suspicions have been raised in the manner in which he handled a project with Safaricom.
According to sources, to win confidence from investors doubting his capacity, Macharia sweettalked late James Gachui, a tycoon with investments cutting across manufacturing to retail trade, to join his firm as board chairman. Abraaj Group was also to acquire 21pc stake.
Once Seven Seas Technologies fortunes started dwindling, Macharia decided to venture into health sector by bringing on board American multinational, General Electric. But the venture in the health sector has run into headwinds.
In the health sector, Seven Seas planned to play the middle man between local hospitals and international multinationals for the supply and maintenance of medical equipment and pharmaceutical products.
The firm has been receiving consignments from international firms to sell locally but has failed to remit payments, hence its current predicament.
Aware his academic credential were costing him business, Macharia engaged in buying honourary degrees and further stated in his curriculum vitae that he had attended numerous management development courses all over the world and was an Executive Management alumni of Strathmore Business School and Spain IESE business school, one of the top ranked executive institutions in the world.
At one time Macharia boasted SST had presence in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Burundi.
At one time, Macharia wanted to fleece members of public by applying to do trading at Nairobi Securities Exchange but the move hit rocks.
At its peak, SST boasted to have five firms: Bring, a business applications and consulting firm; Hakken, doing IT and service management; Intelligent Infrastructure which focuses on ICT infrastructure; the Knowledge Transfer Centre focused on executive ICT and business corporate training; and Twenty Third Century Systems which was SAP implementations and consulting. The five firms were just paperwork to dupe international investors.
Macharia was one time involved in a club fight with senior Supersport official over a debt he had failed to repay.
Milk Haya Nzikabawo Tshunungwa picked an argument with Macharia, at a restaurant in Westlands.
The argument degenerated into a tussle before Nzikabawo, a South African, picked a glass from a table and continuously hit Macharia on the head. He was demaning millions in US dollars.