Seems the problem is in the management.
Can't run an outfit while not able to access the bank account!!
FCA have embraced mobile money efficemtly. And there seems to be more drama on stage than on the management team.
Phoenix seeems to have more drama in the management than on stage lately from the article.
Theatre lovers must help the Phoenix to rise againbdafrica wrote:The images of auctioneers loading up boxes filled with costumes, props and electronic equipment out in front of Nairobi’s Professional Centre went viral on social media following Mr Nthige’s tweet.
But just as it was easy to assume Mr Nthige had snapped those shots himself (probably on a smart phone), so it was just as likely the well-known actor was sharing a fact when he added “Phoenix Players has shut down.”
In reality, it was Tim King’oo, Phoenix’s acting stage manager, not Mr Nthige, who had taken those shots and posted them on the WhatsApp site ‘Phoenix Rising.’ “Mugambi must have lifted them from there,” notes another Phoenix stalwart and the theatre’s acting administrative officer, Brenda Muthoni, who’s been working for the players since 2015.
bdafrica wrote:The auctioneers apparently came down on the theatre over Sh3.8 million rent arrears owed to the landlord, the Association of Professional Societies of East Africa (APSEA ), which owns the Professional Centre.
bdafrica wrote:But neither Ms Muthoni nor Mr King’oo nor the newly constituted board are prepared to concede the demise of Phoenix. Ironically, neither are a myriad of well-wishers who have come out on social media suggesting something had to be done to save Phoenix.
“Yet where were all those well-wishers when we needed them?” asks Anita Ngugi, Phoenix’s previous marketing manager. “We had even hoped Lupita would come to see a show at Phoenix when she came to Kenya some time ago,” Anita adds, recalling as Lupita had tweeted, her [award-winning] career had actually begun with her acting with Phoenix Players.
bdafrica wrote:David Opondoe, who was general manager at the time, says he quit Phoenix two years back. Yet he admits he’s still the sole signatory of the Barclays Bank account.
bdafrica wrote:“We don’t even know how much is in that account,” says Ms Muthoni.
Apparently, it is only the previous board which appointed Mr Opondoe back in 2013, that can change the signatory.
Yet according to Mr Opondoe, that board no longer exists. The previous board chairman, Nani Njoroge, had resigned as did other board members, including Peter Nduati, Lorna Irungu, Mugambi Nandi and Ronald Kingangi.
With no board of directors, no general manager and no access to Phoenix’s bank account, it was not a surprise to receive an eviction letter from APSEA in November 2016.
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bdafrica wrote:According to Phoenix Players’ Articles of Association, a new board had to be elected by paid-up members. But as all the previous memberships had elapsed, Mr King’oo and Ms Muthoni had to recruit new members willing to pay the Sh1,000 membership fee.
Live and learn; and don’t forget, nothing ventured, nothing gained.