Khalif Kairo turns to Kenyans for donations after Wefunder fundraiser was shut down

Popular car dealer Joseph Kairo Wambui alias Khalif Kairo is now pleading for Kenyans to donate funds to him moments after his crowdfunding efforts on Wefunder were shut down.

The dealer, who is now battling several court cases regarding failure to deliver cars to clients, says he has been unable to address the challenges he is facing due to negative media publicity and constant police involvement.

In his WeFund drive, Khairo had requested investors to buy a stake in his company as he sought to revive it. However, he says the fundraiser was shut down due to the legal issues he is facing after crossing the USD100,000 (Ksh12,900,000) mark.

“After attending a mention at Milimani law courts, I was re arrested and held in Parklands police station overnight on another matter. We have tried everything in our ability to try resolve this issues amicably , ensure we do deliveries but the negative media publicity and constant police involvement is putting us in deeper waters and severely affecting our ability to operate,” he said.

“All our offices are currently closed. I am currently in Milimani law courts and will be presented for plea taking shortly. I have had an impressive ten-year run in business with zero criminal cases pertaining cars and thousands of people have successfully bought cars from me. Due to this legal issues, our we funder campaign was shut down last night after crossing the USD 100,000 mark.”

Kairo says the new fund drive being done through a paybill number is not a investment but a donation in efforts to revive his business.

“All is not lost however, I am directly appealing to my supporters, friends , old clients and associates to chip in whatever amount they can and give us a fighting chance against the unknown forces that are sabotaging my company,” he added.

“This is not an investment but a donation. Once the dust settles, we will issue a statement and audit trail of how we will utilize the funds raised in rescuing our company.”

Kairo was previously arraigned early this month on charges of defrauding two clients out of Ksh2.1 million and Ksh2.9 million, respectively.

The court heard that Kairo deceived Jeff Kyule Munane between July 10 and July 29, 2024, in Westlands, Nairobi where his company, Kai & Karo Limited, collected Ksh2,145,150 under the pretence of facilitating the importation of a Honda Vezel Hybrid from Japan, which was never delivered.

In another incident, the businessman is accused of obtaining Ksh2.9 million from Dona Ayalo Okoth ‘through a fraudulent trick,’ claiming to be in a position to import a Subaru Outback.