About

The Archbishop Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki Foundation was incorporated on the 12th of January 2011 under the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act, Chapter 164 of the laws of Kenya. The registration number of the foundation is PS NO. 1385.

His Grace Archbishop Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki is the founding trustee. The other trustees are His Lordship Bishop Dominic Kimengich, Bishop of Lodwar, Mr. James Nyiha, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and Fr. Antony Mwituria. The trustees have the sole prerogative of appointing the Board of Directors and of establishing the terms of engagement of the Board.

According to the “Declaration of Trust” dated 28th July 2009 and signed by the trustees, the following are the objectives of the trust:

  1. To grant bursaries, subsidize books and provide for the material needs of needy students in primary schools in Kenya;
  2. To grant bursaries, scholarships, fellowships and other subsidies to needy and deserving Kenyan students in secondary schools and universities;
  3. To assist in purchasing reading material and other stationery and to establish reading rooms and libraries in schools in impoverished areas in Kenya;
  4. To consult, advise and assist other educational establishments and organizations with objects and aims similar to those expressed in clause (2) in the furtherance of co-operation between such educational establishments and organizations and the granting of reciprocal educational facilities to their students;
  5. To raise funds to assist poor and disadvantaged people to start businesses with the aim of eradicating poverty and assisting such persons to be self sustaining;
  6. To engage in ventures that will offer employment to street children as a way of rehabilitating them and transforming them into useful members of society;
  7. To assist women and marginalized members of society;
  8. To assist those infected and/or affected by the HIV/AIDS scourge.

 

The day to day activities of the foundation are run by a Board of Directors selected by the Trustees. The current board is composed by the following: Mr. James Nyiha, Mr. Lawrence Okumu Omonyo, Ms. Claire Wanjiru Mwangi, Mr. Peter Opon, Sr. Candida Njeri Mukundi and Fr. Antony Mwituria.

While the documents of incorporation provide the trustees with a wide scope in which to operate, the board decided to limit, in these early years of the foundation, its activities to assisting post-secondary students access tertiary education. The only exception to this is made when donors specify the students they wish to sponsor.

The foundation does not have any staff. All activities are handled by members of the board with a view to keeping costs at a minimum. Due to the fact that there are no employees, the foundation does not accept applications for bursaries. The board members will instead identify credible institutions and partner with them. These institutions will identify needy cases and the foundation will commit itself to pay the tuition fees of the selected students.

The foundation relies on donations from well-wishers to establish a fund to run its activities. It runs on the principle of never spending any donations received. All donations are put into a fund and the income from this fund is what is used to grant bursaries to needy students. The foundation also has a fundraising activity dubbed the million kilogram newspaper project by which it collects old newspapers and resells them. Funds from the newspaper project are immediately available for bursaries. A third initiative the board has proposed is to request well wishers to bequeath some of their assets to the foundation.

In order to maximize the funds available for bursaries the foundation sought and obtained a tax exemption from the Kenya Revenue Authority. The exemption certificate is number 20140708/5220 dated 8th July 2014.