Court clears way for Anglo Leasing probe
Kenya's anti-graft body will proceed with investigations against one of the companies named in the Anglo Leasing scandal.
In a judgement, three appeal judges overturned a high court decision and allowed the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) to seek assistance from the Swiss authorities in their investigations.
The judgement was delivered in a case where KACC had appealed a High Court ruling stopping it from investigating the case.
The initial case was filed by First Mercantile Services Limited, the company under investigations.
The investigations arose out of a contract entered into by the government and the company calling itself First Mercantile in 2002.
The agreement was to facilitate the purchase of telecommunications systems for Postal Corporation of Kenya.
The court was told that the corporation wanted to buy the equipment but it could not afford it.
On Friday the three appeal judges noted that the corporation could have entered the agreements themselves but for some reason the government decided to do it without approval of the National Assembly.
In the agreement, First Mercantile was to purchase the equipment for the corporation worth US$ 12.8 million, an equivalent of over KSh1 billion.
Instalments
The government agreed to pay the company in a total of 12 instalments. The last bit was to be paid by November 15, 2005.
The government is said to have paid the refund until June 2004 and then stopped. By this time there was still a balance of Sh475 million to be cleared.
When no further payments were made, Mercantile filed a case in Geneva against the government. In their case, the company wanted the government compelled to clear the refunds.
The following year, KACC wrote to the Swiss judicial authorities asking them to assist in the investigations of Mercantile Ltd.
Mercantile then moved to court asking it to issue an order stopping the Swiss government from investigating them.
In their case, the company argued that the letter was meant to intimidate them from claiming the refund. The High Court in Nairobi later issued orders stopping investigations.
The anti graft body then went to the Court of Appeal asking it to quash the orders issued at the High Court.
In dismissing the order, the three judge bench agreed that KACC had the mandate to seek assistance from foreign bodies and could therefore proceed with the investigation.
