Wikiquote quote of the day sums it all for me:

For honest merit to succeed amid the tricks and intrigues which are
now so lamentably common, I know is difficult; but the honor of
success is increased by the obstacles which are to be surmounted. Let
me triumph as that man or not at all.

  --Rutherford B. Hayes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayes>



On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 7:54 PM, Asaf Bartov <abar...@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Thank you, Alex, for disclosing the matter to the general membership.
>
> As Alex wrote, WMF is requiring WMKE to return all the remaining grant funds
> for safekeeping, until WMKE gets its financial controls in place: an audit
> of all the expenditure so far out of the grant money, beyond the money
> misappropriated by Stephen; a dedicated, joint bank account with at least
> two board members as signatories; replacement board members (naturally, we
> expect Stephen not to be re-elected); and a functioning audit committee.
>
> This is indeed a disappointing development, and no doubt a demoralizing one.
> Nevertheless, WMKE can and should take this as a challenge -- a form of
> growing pains -- and come out stronger and more mature.  I'd recommend the
> general membership do whatever it takes (probably a face-to-face meeting?)
> to work this out and bury the hatchet, so that we can all move on and get
> back to promoting the Wikimedia Vision in Kenya.
>
> Best regards,
>
>    Asaf
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 9:42 AM, Kosgei Isaac <kips8505...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks Alex,
>> We always had this suspicion and it has really affected the chapter.
>> I am not sure what the next step is and what action the board and the
>> foundation will take regarding this so that it will serve as an example to
>> others.
>> Secondly we NEED an audit of all the funds because I personally had doubts
>> with most of the expenses.
>> Hope this gets sorted soon.
>> Thanks
>>
>> On Oct 3, 2012 7:10 PM, "Alex Wafula" <xelaw...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> As most of you already know, we have had concerns raised over our
>>> finances surrounding suspicions of embezzlement of funds by our treasurer. I
>>> am sad to confirm these suspicions. Stephen Wanjau, the treasurer has come
>>> forward and admitted to the Board that he has used part of the funds for
>>> personal non-chapter expenses amounting to approximately USD. 800 and
>>> resigned from the Board effective immediately.
>>>
>>> We will now move to wire back the remaining funds to WMF for keeping
>>> until we have our own bank account and more than one signatory for the same.
>>> As for the embezzled funds, it will be Stephen's responsibility to return
>>> the amount.
>>>
>>> This is a major setback for the Chapter having had so many plans that got
>>> sidelined over confrontations to get the issue resolved. It is my hope that
>>> we will mobilize through this trying time and come out better and more
>>> accountable. I would also like to take this opportunity to thanks Asaf for
>>> his support in this matter.
>>>
>>> On Behalf of the Board,
>>> Alex Wafula
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> As many know, in Wikimedia Spain we are dealing with a very nasty
>>> business.
>>>
>>> While we were preparing our financial report we caught our former
>>> secretary stealing money from our chapter.
>>>
>>> The stolen amount is in the vicinity of 2500 euros. He even left a debt
>>> of ~100 euros that I have personally covered. It may not seem much, but it
>>> was all we had.
>>>
>>> The former secretary never gave access to the new treasurer, he just made
>>> it look like the bank was delaying the process of the change of treasurers.
>>>
>>> He also sent us falsified extracts of the account and the amount of money
>>> in it.
>>>
>>> We were so concerned with the behaviour of the bank that we were about to
>>> change to another one. And then we received a call from the bank saying our
>>> account was in debt.
>>>
>>> When confronted, the former secretary confessed. All the data are clear,
>>> for the bank's official reports are avaliable now.
>>>
>>> Also, with the gently support of the WMF, in the persons of Asaf,
>>> Garfield and Jay, we have already start all the legal actions needed
>>> according to Spanish law, including formal complaint to the Police and all
>>> the papers with the Bank. We have prepared an official statement too, "just
>>> in case" any spanish media want to discuss the case.
>>>
>>> This has been a huge blow for us, as you can imagine. Fortunately, it has
>>> been only one person and the rest of the members of WMES are now trying to
>>> re-boost our chapter. Of course, by september will be a General Assembly,
>>> for all the Board have resign with the aim to lead a transparent process.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> WikimediaKE mailing list
>>> WikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.org
>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> WikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.org
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>>
>
>
>
> --
>     Asaf Bartov
>     Wikimedia Foundation
>
> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
> sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
> https://donate.wikimedia.org
>
>
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