• Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, accompanied by FCDO Minister of State, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (PSVI), visits a ground-breaking foundation for survivors run by Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege.
• This is the first visit by a member of the Royal family to DRC.
• The visit comes ahead of a major global conference on PSVI being hosted in London in November by the UK Government, which Her Royal Highness will attend.

The Countess of Wessex is visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), accompanied by Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Minister of State Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, to raise awareness of the urgent need to tackle sexual violence in conflict in the DRC and around the world.

For Her Royal Highness, the visit is part of a long-standing commitment to championing this issue.

Lord Ahmad as the UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative for PSVI, joined her on the visit to gain a deeper and practical insight into DRC’s experiences of tackling conflict-related sexual violence, and identify lessons learned to share at a global PSVI Conference in the UK next month.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr Denis Mukwege welcomed them to his groundbreaking foundation in Bukavu. The Panzi Foundation has transformed the lives of thousands of women who have suffered sexual violence in the armed conflict and violence in DRC. The Foundation provides medical care, legal assistance, psychological support and economic programmes to offer a holistic model of care for survivors of these horrific crimes.

The Countess of Wessex and Lord Ahmad saw first-hand the difference the Panzi Foundation has made to women’s lives during the first ever visit by a member of the Royal family to DRC.

The UK will host a major international conference in London in November, marking 10 years since the launch of PSVI, an initiative which Lord Ahmad now leads. The conference will bring together the UK and its partners around the world to review progress made in the last decade, identify shared challenges and agree further action.

Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon said:

Sexual violence in conflict continues to shatter lives and scar communities around the world. Tackling it is a top priority for the UK and we will continue to work with our partners to provide better support for survivors, bring perpetrators to justice and encourage partners to share new ideas and experiences of tackling sexual violence in conflict at the conference in November.

Since 2012, we have committed over £50 million to support projects around the world that help prevent conflict-related sexual violence, including in the DRC. This includes providing £2.7 million to the Global Survivors Fund, whose projects in the DRC have supported over 1000 survivors.

Dr Mukwege, Founder of the Panzi Hospital and Foundation, and President of the Global Survivors Fund, said:

My staff and I are grateful for the visit of Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex and Lord Tariq Ahmad. Too often, the world turns a blind eye towards the suffering of survivors, especially here in DRC. Their visit will highlight the ongoing critical work to end conflict-related sexual violence, both in this country and around the globe.

During the visit to eastern DRC, The Countess of Wessex and Lord Ahmad met with survivors of sexual violence, and civil society organisations in Bukavu to gain an understanding of the challenges they face.

In Kinshasa, Her Royal Highness and Lord Ahmad will also meet President Felix Tshisekedi and First Lady Denise Tshisekedi, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula, and other Ministers, for discussions on sexual violence in conflict, the UK’s international conference, and other important issues such as climate change.

Notes to editors

• Photography of the visit will be available from the Press Association.
• Since its launch in 2019, the UK has provided £2.7m to the Global Survivors Fund (GSF). Its projects in DRC have supported over 1000 survivors to access health and psychological care, education, or support for economic enterprises.
• Last year the UK provided $140,000 to help the Panzi Foundation to increase access to legal advice and mediation for survivors.
• In recent years, UK support to TRIAL International in DRC has provided free legal advice to survivors, strengthened capacity in the country to investigate, document and litigate effectively against crimes, and helped to tackle the culture of impunity.
• Between 2021-2022, the UK provided over £500,000 to the UN Team of Experts on conflict related sexual violence (CRSV) to increase the capacity of the DRC investigative and judicial authorities to investigate and prosecute CRSV crimes; and ensure judicial decisions on reparations are enforced. For instance, this funding supported training for police, special protection units, civil and military prosecutors and judges on the investigation and prosecution of CSRV cases, and on ensuring protection measures for victims and witnesses are in place. UK funding to World Vision supported community discussions in DRC led by religious leaders on the principles of the Declaration of Humanity, which challenge the stigma that survivors of sexual violence face.

UK Government Investments Ltd (UKGI), the government’s centre of excellence in corporate governance and corporate finance, announces the appointments of Andrew Ballheimer, Kalpana Desai and Mahnaz Safa to the UKGI Board, for three-year terms until 21 September 2025.

Andrew Ballheimer

From 2016 until the end of his term in April 2020, Andrew Ballheimer was the Global Managing Partner of Allen & Overy LLP where he shaped and delivered strategy whilst driving forward the performance of the business, including on diversity and inclusion initiatives. Andrew has more than 35 years of legal experience advising multinational corporations and global financial institutions, including in other senior leadership positions at Allen & Overy, as Global Co-Head of Corporate and UK Managing Partner of Corporate. Following his retirement from A&O (at the end of 2020), Andrew joined the board of Factor Law Inc. and the M&A Global Advisory Board at AON PLC. He has been a trustee of Moorfields Eye Charity since 2011, as well as a member of the U.K. Trade and Business Commission, and he is also a Senior Advisor at Teneo Strategy Limited.

Kalpana Desai

Kalpana Desai is currently a Non-Executive Director of Janus Henderson plc, in addition to being a Founding Trustee of the Future is Bright Charitable Trust. Previously, Kalpana was a member of the Takeovers and Mergers Panel of the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong from 2007 to 2014, and was a Non-Executive Director at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. from 2015-2019. Kalpana has over 30 years of international advisory and investment banking experience. Until 2013, she was Chief Executive of Macquarie Capital Asia, the investment banking division of Macquarie Group Limited. Prior to this, she was Head of the Asia-Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions Group and a Managing Director from 2001 in the Investment Banking Division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch based in Hong Kong. Kalpana qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London in 1991, and graduated with a BSc Economics from the London School of Economics.

Mahnaz Safa

Mahnaz Safa has extensive commercial and regulatory experience from across the private and public sectors. With 30 years in finance, Mahnaz has advised boards on restructuring, capital raising, financing, strategy, board succession and crisis management; in sectors including retail, energy, infrastructure, technology and asset management. Mahnaz has been a senior executive at UBS, Citi and ANZ. As an executive Mahnaz has led and transformed large scale complex financial businesses and whilst at UBS and Citi, she co-chaired their respective women’s leadership executive committees. Mahnaz currently serves on the board of Jefferies International Limited as a Non-Executive Director and is member of the Council at Imperial College where she is the Champion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. She has previously served as a senior independent director on the board of Alternative Credit Investments FTSE 250. Mahnaz holds a PhD in computer aided technology from Imperial College.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith said:

I am delighted to welcome Andrew Ballheimer, Kalpana Desai and Mahnaz Safa as new non-executive directors of UK Government Investments.

Their extensive background and experience will be an invaluable asset to the UKGI board as it supports the government in delivering more growth, jobs, and investment across the UK.

I look forward to working with them and the rest of the UKGI board in the months ahead.

Vindi Banga, UKGI Chairman, said

I am delighted that three such high-calibre appointees will be joining the UKGI Board. Each have a variety of skills and experience in different sectors which will prove invaluable for the Board in ensuring UKGI delivers against its strategy and its objectives.

I very much look forward to working closely with each of them over the coming years.

These appointments are regulated by the Commissioner for Public appointments (OCPA) and are made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments published by the Cabinet Office. These appointments are made on merit and political activity played no part in the decision process. In accordance with the code, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public. Andrew Ballheimer, Kalpana Desai and Mahnaz Safa did not declare any political activity.

Further information

UKGI is the government’s centre of excellence in corporate governance and corporate finance. It provides expert advice and leading solutions that inform and translate government’s decisions into effective outcomes in the national interest.

UKGI acts as shareholder for, and leads the establishment of, UK government arm’s length bodies; it advises on all major UK government corporate finance matters, including financial interventions into corporate structures and corporate finance negotiations; it analyses and advises on the UK government’s contingent liabilities; and it acquires, manages and executes the sale of all significant UK government corporate assets.

UKGI is owned by HM Treasury and independently managed with a Board comprised predominantly of independent non-executive directors. UKGI works closely with both the private and public sectors, advising and interacting with ministers, Parliament and Whitehall departments.

Daniel Ross Patchett, 34, from Kingsthorpe in Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty at Lincoln Crown Court of acting in the management of a company whilst an undischarged bankrupt.

Bankrupts must adhere to a number of bankruptcy restrictions, including not creating, managing or promoting a company, or acting as a director of a company, unless they request and receive specific permission from the court. Breaching these restrictions is a criminal offence.

People who are made bankrupt also have a duty to declare their assets, which will be used to pay off their debts.

Daniel Patchett had resigned as a director of his business, DRP Distribution Ltd in February 2018, following his bankruptcy, at which point his wife became sole director. DRP Distribution operated from 2016 to 2019 as an order fulfilment company, providing warehousing, packing and distribution of parcels for third-parties who sold products online through Amazon and other services.

Despite his bankruptcy, Daniel Patchett continued to act in the management of the company in 2018, and he deliberately concealed his activity and income to avoid making payments to his creditors.

In particular, the Insolvency Service investigation found that Patchett was corresponding with Royal Mail regarding outstanding invoices and payments made, and the company’s accountants also confirmed that most of the communication came from him during this period.

A number of suppliers to the company also confirmed to the Insolvency Service that they understood Daniel Patchett was the director of the company.

He was due to be making monthly payments of around £400 to his creditors, but just a month into his bankruptcy he informed the Official Receiver that he no longer worked at DRP Distribution and therefore could pay only “a token gesture amount” toward his debts. He even provided a P45 form as evidence.

In reality, he continued to manage DRP Distribution and received over £30,000 from the company during his bankruptcy, additional hidden income of nearly £40,000 which the company paid to his wife, and a further £28,000 which he withdrew from the business in cash.

All of this money should have been paid to his creditors. Patchett told the court that he had been suffering from gambling addiction.

He was sentenced on 28 September 2022 at Lincoln Crown Court by Her Honour Judge Sjölin Knight.

Julie Barnes, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

Daniel Patchett was fully aware both of his responsibility not to act as a director of a limited company given he was bankrupt, and also of his duty to disclose all assets and details of his income to the Official Receiver.

He chose to flagrantly disregard these obligations for his own personal gain, leaving creditors out of pocket. We will always prosecute such cases to protect the business community and the public from financial harm.

Notes to editors

Daniel Ross Patchett is of Market Raisin and his date of birth is October 1988.

Patchett was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. This included eight months for offences under section 11 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act, and 12 months for offences under section 356 of the Insolvency Act.

Company DRP Distribution Ltd (Company Reg no 10496605).

Bankruptcy restrictions are wide ranging. The effects are the same whether you are subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order or to an undertaking. Guidance on the main statutory consequences flowing from a bankruptcy restrictions order or undertaking.

Information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

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