Esther Mhuri 2 : Donor funds abuse suspicion as Tswanda crowdfunding owners Nigel Mugamu, founder of 263 Chat and Tawanda Gwata embark on dubious fundraising initiative : Discussion with Tswanda owner.
…as Nigel Mugamu is still to respond to sisi Vee’s messages seeking clarification.
It remains unclear if the Tswanda bank account where Esther’s donated money is being transfered to is in Zimbabwe or in South Africa.However Tawanda uses a South African phone number.
” …and this is a so called organisation that channels donated funds without the recipients’ knowledge to its bank account.Whatever their agenda is.Well ,do we even learn or understand anything about transparency and accountability when it comes to public funds. Basa kutsvaga kuti 15 billion stolen by zanupf ina ani.Who has the money that is going into our bank accounts in the name of so called fundraising initiatives.To make matters worse the Esther story is a very sensitive issue woona vanhu vachiita same behaviour that made us raise eye brows pafirst fundraising.Do us black people even learn lessons.I dont think so.Charity yenyu kungomhanya kuvhura macrowdfunding pages pasina transparency.If you can’t be transparent stay away from public funds ?” said sisi Vee.
The Tswanda fundraising page which was opened as per Ngonidzashe Mavera’s request is raising funds for Esther Mhuri who recently had a successful mastectomy .However the funds being raised as of now are going directly to Tswanda’s bank account as said by Tawanda to sisi Vee .The owner of the campaign Ngonidzashe is not aware where the money is going as he referred such questions to Tawanda, and this is someone who set up a fundraising appeal for Esther but doesn’t know how the proceeds will get to Esther and moreso who has the proceeds .Well, one wonders what the difference between a charity organisation and a crowdfunding platform is.
Talking to sisi Vee today Tawanda said ,
[30/04 2:31 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: Good day..
[30/04 2:31 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: Tatenda from Tswanda.
[30/04 3:05 pm] Sisi Vee: Hello hanzvadzi.Good day to you.Thank you so much for getting in touch.Sincere apologies for taking your time .
1. I dont seem to be understanding how Tswanda crowdfunding works .Is it like Go fund me…the idea? May you please enlighten me ?
2.Pertaining to Esther Mhuri’s chemotherapy fundraising is it like Ngonidzashe approached you to set up the fundraising page on your platform Tswanda for him on behalf of Esther?
The reason why I am interested in knowing is because of previous issues that arose in March about some dubious characters who opened Go Fund Me pages for Esther without her knowledge etc
[30/04 3:06 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: Ok
[30/04 3:08 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: 1) At a high level the Tswanda model works like Gofundme.. Technically it doesn’t
[30/04 3:11 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok.Yes I also realised that ‘technically’ it doesn’t when I tried to manoeuvre the site.You may go ahead ??
[30/04 3:12 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: That’s is due to the payments landscape of our jurisdiction- Zimbabwe and the payment gateway that we use ..Paynow.
[30/04 3:13 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok.
[30/04 3:18 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: The payment gateway – Paynow.. does not have an Escrow facility or Adaptive framework for us to have a bank account per campaign. So whenever we on-board a campaign after discussions with the campaign owner, the money contributed goes into a Tswanda account and then it is transferred to the recipient when the targets/milestones are reached or when the campaign ends.
[30/04 3:23 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok .I get you ??.So in Esther’s case
1. Who is the campain owner.Is it Ngonidzashe as shown on the Tswanda page?
2. Who are the Tswanda bank account holders?
[30/04 3:26 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: The campaign owner in this case is Ngonidzashe as he is the one we are directly liaising with. He is however not the recipient of the campaign funds. He only drives the initiative from a social media fundraising perspective.
[30/04 3:27 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: 2) Tswanda’s account holders are a Zimbabwean bank. Our payment gateway only allows Zimbabwean bank accounts.
[30/04 3:33 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: Tswanda has Esther’s Ecocash number and Steward Bank account details for onward forwarding of the funds.
[30/04 3:33 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok.Thank you.I know Esther is the recipient
1. When you say campaign owner do you mean someone you directly liase with or someone who gives you their initiative to add on Tswanda and subsequently work with you to achieve the goal
2.If Tswanda has a bank account a Zimbabwean bank can’t be an account holder…By account holders I mean the people who opened the Tswanda bank account at the Zimbabwean bank where Esther’s money is being directed to from Tswanda crowdfunding page.
[30/04 3:36 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: Campaign Owner is someone we directly liaise with..- It could be the direct recipient or someone acting on their behalf.
[30/04 3:36 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok .
[30/04 3:37 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: 2) I think I misunderstood the question initially.. Tswanda Zimbabwe the company is the account holder of the account where the funds that are being contributed go to initially.
[30/04 3:39 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok thank you so much .
Is Esther the recipient aware that Tswanda the organisation is receiving donated money which is going into their bank account on her behalf?
[30/04 3:40 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: Yes she is.
[30/04 3:40 pm] Sisi Vee: How did she know?
[30/04 3:42 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: She is not aware that funds go into a Tswanda bank account first before her account.. She is however aware ofthe fact that funds are being raised for her through Tswanda and the funds will be transferred to her account- Ecocash or Steward Bank.
[30/04 3:47 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok Thank you.
How did she know ? Who made her aware of the fact that funds are being raised for her through Tswanda and the funds will be transfered to her account -Ecocash or Steward bank.
2.I understand Esther has a Steward account too so what is the purpose of Tswanda yet the destination of donated funds is the same ?
[30/04 3:57 pm] Sisi Vee: Are you there hanzvadzi
[30/04 3:58 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: 1) Ngoni is in contact with her..
2) The purpose is Tswanda is to provide a crowdfunding platform.
[30/04 4:03 pm] Sisi Vee: Ok thank you.Firstly you cannot hold someone’s donated money in your organisation’s bank account without yourselves agreeing the terms and conditions with the recipient .
Secondly if Tswanda’s purpose is to provide a crowdfunding platform like Go Fund Me then Tswanda should only provide a platform and not a bank account …unless you agree with the recipients.
3. In whose names is the Tswanda bank account where Esther’s money is going or supposed to go?
[30/04 4:13 pm] Sisi Vee: Are you there hanzvadzi
[30/04 4:27 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: 1) Esther’s proxy in this incident is Ngoni and he agreed to the terms on conditions.
2) Our agreement is with Ngoni the campaign owner. Tswanda is not Gofundme as we operate in different technology landscapes. If payment gateways in Zimbabwe allowed for such we would do that. So we are working with what we have.
3) The account holder of Tswanda’s bank account is Tswanda Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd.
Lastly, if you and the recipient have any reservations regarding our processes. We will be glad to engage them.
We are in possession of the communication between Ngoni and Esther. If you say Esther has reservations to the Tswanda process, please notify us through
campaigns@tswanda.co.zw.
Thank you for your time
[30/04 4:30 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: Additionally , on first business day Tswanda will transfer funds to Esther and suspend the campaign as we get clarification of your interest and mandate from Esther.
[30/04 4:35 pm] Sisi Vee: Thank you .Firstly how Tswanda is currently operating is financially unethical no matter whose model you are using for fundraising purposes.
Secondly , my reason for contacting you is not to be involved in the chemotherapy fundraising.My reason for getting in touch was made very clear at the beggining of the conversation.
3. Tswanda Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd is not names of the bank account holders.By names I mean the people who opened the Tswanda bank account and these people should be signatories of the Tswanda bank account.The reason why I am asking is I need to check with them how much has been raised so far
[30/04 5:02 pm] Sisi Vee: Are you there hanzvadzi
[30/04 5:49 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: The amount that has been raised for this specific campaign is displayed on the campaign progress bar..
And lastly and details on Tswanda please send an email to info@tswanda.co.zw and they will officially respond to those questions.
Unfortunately Tswanda Zimbabwe is the account holder- signatories to an corporate account are not necessarily account holders.
I hope the 2 reasons for your contact that you outlined initially have been discussed. 1) How Tswanda works 2) The Ngoni, Esther and Tswanda link .
Thank you for your interest in Tswanda and the initiative that we have embarked on to help Zimbabweans.
Tswanda is available on info@tswanda.co.zw for any further information.
Thank You.
[30/04 5:54 pm] Sisi Vee: Thank you so much hanzvadzi.It is very clear you at Tswanda wish to have the names of the Tswanda bank account holders a secrect .If you are one of the owners then you could have just shared the names of the signatories .Your time is greatly appreciated.Do have a great week.
[30/04 6:04 pm] Tatenda Gwata Esther: To avoid a deliberate misconception. A signatory for an account and an account holder are two very different and distinct entities.. It can be the same person or it could be different. In most companies accountants or finance people are signatories to accounts but not necessarily the account holders. Signatories to specific Tswanda accounts will remain private.
I have not kept anything secret so please do not misrepresent me.. I gave you an email address to send further questions that go beyond your 2 initial ones..The Tswanda Team will gladly respond to you.
[30/04 6:23 pm] Sisi Vee: Thank you for your time hanzvadzi.I have finished writing the story
