On Monday, 4 April 2022, Clara Wanjiku, a former employee, called out Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola for constantly harassing her over a period of 5 years.
A few weeks before Clara Wanjiku called out her former employers, another Nigerian tech company had been dragged in the mud. Ebun Okunbanjo, the CEO of Bento Africa, had been named in a #HorribleBosses scandal that trended for an entirety of two days and birthed several other shocking revelations.
However, it sees Wanjiku had taken her time to come up with her own allegations against Flutterwave, which she posted on Medium. Titled ‘The Flutterwave CEO is bullying me and it ends today,’ she wrote at the beginning of her piece:
“I have been constantly belittled, lied about, harassed, had my name tarnished and almost arrested because of Olugbenga Agboola the CEO of Flutterwave and I am calling time. It has been almost 5 years of constant harassment and I am over it all.”
Then, she went on to detail how her harrowing experience began after the company refused to pay her ‘dues’ and she ended up involving a lawyer. Despite paying her eventually, Wanjiku claims that Olugbenga Agboola continued to bully and harass her.
At one time, she had been accused of being behind an account trying to tarnish the company’s image. Another time, GB (as Olugbenga Agboola is fondly called) sabotaged a job she wanted to get with a bank.
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It didn’t end there. She added that despite her requests, she had been left as the contact on the Mpesa paybill, which Flutterwave used to conduct business in Kenya. The company’s refusal led to her being implicated in a fraud case and being investigated by the authorities and her family. This incident happened after she left the company.
“I am sick of it to be honest. It has been almost 5 years of constant bullying, trying to malign my name and just make my life more difficult,” Clara wrote.
While she has a case in court against the company stemming from the Mpesa fraud issue, she says that what she ultimately wants is to be left alone. Although, she did mention that an initial ruling had awarded her a payment that was ‘too small,’ and she had appealed.
Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola released his statement confirming the lawsuit in response to the public call-out. He acknowledged the case but argued that Clara had demanded $900,000 as settlement for the ’emotional trauma’ she passed through each time merchant called for enquiry.
(Note that he didn’t acknowledge the Mpesa fraud and any investigation into Wanjiku’s family)
Agboola does say that they did not agree with the $900,000 settlement demand, and after going to court, the judge ruled that the company should only pay $2,500 for damages, which matches Clara’s account as well.
In an official statement to Tech Crunch, Flutterwave said, “As an organization that continuously strives to create an environment where employees feel secure and safe, we take the recent allegations of bullying from a former employee very seriously.” It also said, “We however sincerely regret the circumstances that led to the dispute and wish it had been addressed in a more timely manner.”
The matter is still developing…
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