Brawl scam costs Ndichu brothers millions, fame
By Steve Umidha, October 19, 2021Kenyan financial services firm Wapi Pay risks losing business deals running into hundreds of millions of shillings after a brawl at a Nairobi hotel saw one of its key partners withdraw funding.
The twin brothers and co-founders of Wapi Pay, Paul Ndichu and Eddie Ndichu, were on Saturday captured on video allegedly assaulting a woman at a city hotel.
Police yesterday confirmed they had received a complaint at Akila Police Station in Nairobi South C (Occurrence Book number 2/17/10/2021), adding that the matter was under investigation.
Police said they would take action after the victim returns the medical examination forms (P3).
A senior officer, however, said the two parties had settled the issue of a damaged car.
Following the alleged assault, Kepple Africa Ventures, a Japanese venture capital firm, yesterday announced it would revoke its investment in Wapi Pay worth hundreds of millions of shillings.
True events
It has now emerged that the brothers will step aside with immediate effect from Wapi Pay board to pave way for investigation into the alleged assault.
Later yesterday, Eddie also stepped down as a board member of the Association of Fintechs in Kenya – an umbrella body for finance and technology companies operating in Kenya.
“The board of the Association of Fintechs in Kenya takes note of the unfortunate allegations made against our board member Eddie, following an altercation at a city hotel on Saturday, October 17,” the board noted.
In the video doing rounds on social media, one of the brothers is seen smashing a side mirror of a vehicle parked outside the hotel before going back inside to join his brother in “assaulting” a woman.
Brothers, however, issued a statement yesterday distancing themselves from the video which has since gone viral, claiming it did not accurately capture what transpired.
They said they do not condone or support violence against women, adding that they did not assault anybody as widely claimed.
They further claimed they were only trying to stop a confrontation between two women.
“Our understanding is that the allegations and video currently being shared on social media, albeit horrific and regrettable, do not depict the true events that transpired that night.
To be clear, Paul and Eddie got involved in an attempt to neutralise a confrontation between two women and defend themselves from certain aggressors,” they said in a statement.
A senior police officer told People Daily the matter was under investigation.
Malicious damage
“The complainants have told police they had settled the issue of malicious damage to property in respect to their car whose side mirror was damaged in the fracas.
It is shocking they have settled it and they are yet to address the assault one,” the officer said. Wapi Pay also sought to exonerate the two.
“We found the story distasteful and troubling and want to firmly state that any type of behaviour involving violence against women does not reflect our values nor does it reflect those of Eddie or Paul.
The Association of Fintechs in Kenya also convened a special meeting during which Eddie stepped down as a board member pending formal investigations into the matter, according to the board chairman Ali Hussein.
Financial and human resource experts yesterday said the incident could leave an unpleasant taste in the tongues of the two brothers and may well jeopardise the company’s future relationship with more partners and potential investors.
Kepple, in confirming cancellation of its investment in the firm, said they had zero tolerance to such incidents.
Kepple Africa is one of the six venture companies that had in August taken part in a $2.2 million or Sh240 million pre-seed investment towards Wapi Pay.
The amount – according to a statement published on the firm’s website, was meant to scale up global payments and remittances between Africa and Asia and remains the largest of its kind in East Africa and the continent thus far.
Other venture companies that participated in the deal are China-based fund MSA Capital, which has also invested in unicorns Meituan, Nubank and Klarna, Pan-African and Africa-focused firms EchoVC and Future Hub, as well as Pan-Asian firms Transsion Holdings and Gobi Ventures.