• The advert which ran May 31 on page 11 of the Daily Nation indicated that the Supply unit of the foundation in Kenya was inviting registered, reputable and qualified companies to submit offers for the supply of various commodities.
• Among them were vegetable oil, nutripro porridge, table salt, and long grain rice, multi-purpose bar soap, maize meal, gas cylinder and regulators.
An advert alleging Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is looking for tenders is false.
The advert which ran May 31 on page 11 of the Daily Nation indicated that the Supply unit of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation regional office in Kenya was inviting registered, reputable and qualified companies to submit offers for the supply of various commodities.
Among them were vegetable oil, nutripro porridge, table salt, and long grain rice, multi-purpose bar soap, maize meal, gas cylinder and regulators.
According to the advert, some Sh4,100 would be charged on every category applied for. The amount was to be deposited through an M-Pesa account or a bank account at the NCBA.
FINDINGS
The Star has established that the foundation does not have any offices in Nairobi as indicated in the advert.
The foundation has regional offices based in Washington DC, UK, India and China.
With regards to the African continent, the foundation has its main Africa office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia focusing to improve health and help smallholder farmers lift themselves out of poverty.
The Africa office has representatives based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Abuja, Nigeria who oversee its initiatives in those countries and evidently Kenya is not one of them.
This is backed by the fact that the foundation responded saying it was aware of a potential scam involving a foundation office in Nairobi, Kenya.
“Please know that we do not have any office in Nairobi, Kenya, and ask that you report any fraudulent activity to local authorities in Kenya,” the foundation said.
Secondly, the advert had indicated that a fee of Sh4,100 would be charged on every category, but the foundation confirmed that it does not ask for any administrative fees for awarding a grant.
The foundation does not host internet lotteries or offer prizes of any kind through email, postal mail, telephone, fax, or in person, Request registration fees for conferences or summits or Request information about bank accounts or other private information,” part of the statement read in part.
This is in contrary to what the advert indicated. Potential firms and companies were asked to submit tender reference numbers, company names, addresses and phone numbers.
The Name of the contact person, mobile money transaction reference number were also among details asked for.
But the foundation said it does not approach individuals in person offering grant opportunities, solicit donations at any time or offer investment opportunities.