Sentebale Decline Raises Conflict of Interest Accusations Over Nandi Life Sciences Link

Sentebale, the charity co-founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso to support children living with HIV in Lesotho and Botswana, is facing one of its most serious crises. Once known for hosting more than 700 children each year in residential camps at the Mamohato Children’s Centre, the organisation has slowed its flagship programmes to a crawl, according to The Times. Chair Sophie Chandauka has cut costs, sent staff home, and faced questions over the charity’s annual impact.

At the same time, attention has turned to her private company, Nandi Life Sciences, which used Sentebale branding and imagery on its website, raising conflicts of interest.

Related | Nandi Life Sciences Disappears as Scrutiny Grows Over Sentebale’s Financial Ties

Services Cut at Mamohato Centre

Until recently, the Mamohato Children’s Centre welcomed more than 700 children each year for residential camps. These events helped build confidence, improve health literacy, and connect children to vital care. That work has now been sharply reduced.

Reports from Lesotho in The Times indicate the centre is “effectively mothballed.” No holiday camps have been held this year. Management instructed staff to work from home to save on utility costs. The organisation has also made redundancies to steady its finances. A 25 per cent spending cut since March has come at the expense of in-person services that once formed the charity’s core mission.

Austerity measures have reshaped day-to-day operations. At the same time, developments outside Sentebale’s core work are drawing attention. As programmes contract and funding tightens, scrutiny has shifted toward the chair’s private business ventures.

Private Company Uses Sentebale Branding

In recent months, observers found that Nandi Life Sciences, a biotech start-up founded by Chandauka and her brother, Tinashe Chandauka, displayed an image of a child wearing a Sentebale-branded hat on its corporate website. The section, titled “Social impact and giving back,” stated that Nandi’s founders are “proud to support the work of Sentebale” in Southern Africa.

This move has raised concerns among charity watchers and donors. Critics warn that the imagery and wording could mislead the public into believing there is a formal partnership or clinical link between the charity and the company. No public record confirms such an arrangement.

Governance and Transparency Concerns

The UK Charity Commission’s recent report identified governance failings at Sentebale and criticised all parties for allowing internal disputes to spill into the public arena. Against that backdrop, serious ethical questions now surround the decision by chair Sophie Chandauka’s private company, Nandi Life Sciences, to use Sentebale branding in its corporate marketing.

Did the board approve this use of the charity’s name and imagery? Only two trustees are currently in place: Iain Rawlinson and Dr Bhakti Hansoti. Both were appointed by Chandauka in April, leaving the oversight process unclear. Using Sentebale branding without documented consent represents a clear breach of conflict-of-interest rules and misuses charity assets for private gain.

“A conflict of interest exists when a trustee’s duty to act in the best interests of their charity is in conflict with their own personal interests or loyalty to another person or organisation. Trustees must not benefit from their role unless it is properly authorised and in the charity’s interests.” — Charity Commission, CC29 

Using Sentebale’s branding on Nandi Life Sciences’ website without documented consent clearly breaches CC29 by providing unauthorised personal benefit and misusing charity assets.

Also, under Chandauka’s leadership, Sentebale’s official website and X account publicly criticised its own founders and former trustees. For donors and governance experts, this blurs the line between a charity’s mission and personal or corporate disputes. It erodes trust and raises serious questions about whether Sentebale is meeting the ethical and legal standards required of UK charities. Nandi Life Sciences’ website went offline in April. Since the Charity Commission released its findings in early August, it has reappeared, linking the charity to the private company.

Unclear Role and Progress of Nandi Life Sciences

Nandi Life Sciences describes itself as a biotechnology company working on autoimmune diseases. However, it has no public record of patents, peer-reviewed research, or clinical trials. As reported in April, there is also no evidence of medical staff, published studies, or regulatory filings to support its claims.

The company, founded in 2023, the same year Chandauka became Chair of Sentebale, appears to have gained recognition mainly through concept pitches. It has positioned itself as part of a $50 million biotech portfolio, but no independent source has verified this. The firm lists the same address as TMC Innovation in Houston, yet no public record confirms a formal partnership. This raises questions about whether such affiliations serve more as optics than substance.

Documented overlaps in consultants between the two entities have fuelled speculation that Chandauka may be leveraging charitable connections to promote a private venture.

For example, Sarah Essien, who reportedly worked closely with Chandauka at Morgan Stanley, was paid £41,451 by Sentebale while also being linked to Nandi Life Sciences. Another consultant, Dawn Whyte, worked at the Black British Business Awards, which Chandauka founded in 2014. She received £26,110 from the charity during the same period. Without clearer disclosures about these relationships and payments, public trust will remain fragile.

Final Thoughts

Sentebale’s mission remains essential for children living with HIV in Southern Africa. However, its ability to deliver on that mission has weakened. The use of its branding by the chair’s private company has deepened concerns over governance and leadership.

To restore confidence, the charity must provide transparent explanations and ensure a strict separation between its work and any private business interests. Above all, it must renew its focus on the children and communities it was created to serve.