CORRUPTION AND SHAME: KENYA ASSOCIATION OF AIR OPERATORS AND CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY PROTECT NOTORIOUS CROOKS

Stories about how scammers, having earned money by deceiving counterparties, invest part of the loot in raising their status are not uncommon. The calculation is quite simple: firstly, they need to whitewash their reputation. Secondly, the new status allows them to penetrate the circle of fatter wallets, which means they can rob at a new, higher level. So such investments are usually justified and there is nothing surprising here.

And is it any wonder that some participants in the aviation market, having linked their professional reputation with exposed scammers, instead of kicking them out, simply try to hide the unsightly truth? Unfortunately, such situations are quite common. Many of our colleagues from the aviation community in such cases take the ostrich position, sticking their heads deep in the sand: “I don’t know anything, I don’t hear anything…”. The management of the Kenya Association of Air Operators, represented by Liz Aluvanze, Chief Executive Officer of KAAO, took exactly this path, thereby downing the reputation of their association all across the board. We at BLACKLIST.AERO cannot perceive the facts described in this article as anything other than Corruption in its purest form.

The case of BRENT GLOBAL LIMITED (Kenya), created back in June 2023, was absolutely banal - defaulters ordered services for $ 60,000, when the company was still called Multiple Solutions. Renaming it to Brent Global Limited did not help the scammers escape responsibility. At the same time, you can find multiple references to Brent Global Limited on the Internet as a company that is engaged in fraud, trying to trade gold and diamonds in addition to providing aviation services.

After the case was published in BLACKLIST.AERO, the co-owners of the company Richard Kubo and Raphael Sebastian Wamwati were so scared that the very next day Richard Kubo went to the claimant’s office to “put out the fire”. The claimant was returned $4,000 and given assurances that the entire amount would be repaid in installments in the foreseeable future.

Photo: Richard Kubo in claimant's office after publication the case at the BLACKLIST.AERO

However, shortly after that, Raphael Wamwati and Richard Kubo simply “disappeared from the radar”. All their promises remained just promises. As it turned out, with a payment of $4,000 they decided to simply buy themselves time to register a new company called TWINSTAR AVIATION and “start everything from scratch”.

But, as I have repeatedly said, such tricks do not work with BLACKLIST.AERO. We often encounter cases when scammers accumulate debts for one company and open another when no one wants to deal with the first one. Therefore, our Operations Team monitors all activity not only of the debtor companies listed in the Registry, but also of the owners and top management of such companies. All their transfers from one company to another are recorded and carefully analyzed.

When we found out that Richard Kubo and Raphael Sebastian Wamwati not only created a new company Twinstar Aviation, but also got into the Kenya Association of Air Operators (KAAO) with it, we raised the alarm. We twice contacted the Association with a request to conduct an investigation and take action. We also personally contacted the CEO of KAAO Liz Aluvanze with a request to influence this outrageous situation, which undermines the authority of the association.

However, all that Liz Aluvanze was capable of was blocking all the addresses and profiles from which our requests were sent, and also limiting as much as possible the BLACKLIST.AERO team’s ability to receive information about KAAO news. Apparently, not only the fact that the Managing partner of Twinstar Aviation Raphael Sebastian Wamwati was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association plays a major role here, but also the fact that Twinstar Aviation itself is constantly either a Gold Sponsor or a Silver Sponsor of the ceremonial meetings of this Association.

If you look at the photos from KAAO events, you will see that the second co-owner of Twinstar Aviation Richard Kubo simply appears as the central figure at these events. And apparently, it is not only about “sponsorship”. He is deeply involved in the activities of this Association.

But the most interesting thing is that in addition to heading this association, Liz Aluvanze holds the position of Director of the Board of Directors in… Kenya Civil Aviation Authority!!! Which certainly suggests that corruption has penetrated to the very top of Kenyan civil aviation. Considering that the same person heads the Kenya Association of Air Operators and is also in a top position in the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, it seems that this entire Association is nothing more than a corruption scheme to protect “aviation scammers” from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority officials. And membership fees and sponsorship payments are a screen for such protection.

We also now understand the inaction of the KCAA in previous years, when we contacted to them with numerous letters regarding a large number of different companies from Kenya, which are either systemic non-payers or engaged in blatant fraud. Then the main excuse from officials in KCAA was the sentence that, like, “Most of these companies are registered as ordinary LLCs and did not receive any licenses from KCAA. Because of this, KCAA has no mechanisms to influence these companies”.

Now, when the participation of exposed scammers in the aviation life of Kenya is already visible to the naked eye, the management of Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has moved from the position of “Well, what can we do?!” to openly ignoring the fact that this very management of KCAA exposes.

In connection with all that has been said, I would like to address the subjects of this article:

To Richard Kubo and Raphael Sebastian Wamwati: you were too arrogant when you decided that it was time to raise your head. As long as BLACKLIST.AERO exists, you will have to either resolve the debts of Brent Global Limited or continue to run from creditors and BLACKLIST.AERO like jackrabbits. In this case, learn to be quiet as a mouse and lower than grass.

Richard Kubo and Liz Aluvanze

To Liz Aluvanze: The fact that you simultaneously head the Board of Directors of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the Kenya Association of Air Operators is not just a conflict. This is a corruption component that cannot be hidden by anything. With your conscious and active inaction, you have only proven this fact by compromising both the Association and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority as an executive body.

The administration of the Global Aviation Register of Defaulter companies BLACKLIST.AERO calls on you to immediately resign from both positions to allow the Kenyan aviation authorities to cleanse themselves of corruption and shame.

We also call on the entire aviation community NOT TO COOPERATE with Twinstar Aviation and Brent Global until the owners of these companies, Richard Kubo and Raphael Sebastian Wamwati, pay their debts.