Cases on Portland board row merged

Two cases challenging the suspension of the East African Portland Cement Company board of directors have been consolidated.

At the same time, Mr Justice Mohammed Warsame allowed lawyer Fred Ngatia to file an application seeking to discharge orders issued by another judge reinstating the suspended directors.

Mr Ngatia told the court that the minister did not actually terminate the contract of the managers but suspended them to allow investigations into allegations of malpractices and high-handedness made by the workers.

“The problems started when the managers were reinstated, with workers boycotting their duties and paralysing operations.

“All other attempts, including a court order for the immediate reopening of the company, have not succeeded,” said Mr Ngatia.

To break the impasse that has resulted in the company’s closure for the past two weeks, he proposed, the court should allow the three major shareholders to appoint three acting directors.

He added that it was in the interest of the public to ensure that the company did not continue to lose money.

The two petitions were filed before different judges of the High Court, leading to confusion over which case acting Industrialisation minister Amason Kingi should respond to. (READ: Kingi fights for say in cement firm)

In the first case, the suspended directors, led by managing director Kephar Tande, filed a petition claiming the minister and the permanent secretary had no power to suspend them and sought orders to revoke the suspension.

The firm filed another application seeking similar orders before Mr Justice Joseph Mutava, claiming its operations and trading on the Nairobi Stock Exchange had been affected as a result of the minister’s action.

Sharp division emerged

Justice Mutava issued an injunction restraining the minister and the PS from interfering with the internal management of the company and directed them not to publish information informing the public that Mr Tande and the board of directors had no authority to transact business for the company.

The court then ruled that two cases seeking similar orders could not be heard simultaneously after the minister complained that they are exposing him to an absurd legal process.

When the cases came up for hearing yesterday, another sharp division emerged, with the government maintaining that the company was not operating after workers refused to allow Mr Tande to resume duties, while the directors said that only a section of employees had not turned up for duties.