Lawyers blamed for NCPB woes

Senior Counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi has blamed cereals board’s woes on the incompetence of its lawyers.

Mr Abdullahi on Thursday accused the legal team of failing to make a simple application that would have saved the board from execution of a court order that dealt a blow to its financial health.

He told the Public Investments Committee that he had not influenced any decisions made by the 11 judges who have handled the dispute between Erad Supplies and the National Cereals and Produce Board.

The senior counsel has been adversely mentioned in the hearings of the committee that is investigating circumstances under which NCPB was bankrupted by Erad, which he represented in court.

According to Mr Abdullahi, NCPB’s lawyers blundered when they failed to appeal Erad’s application to execute a Sh500 million award by an arbitrator who handled the dispute.

NCPB had in June 2011 asked the High Court to set aside the decision. Mr Justice Leonard Njagi declined to do that and Erad then applied to have the court decree the execution of the award. Mr Abdullahi said the NCPB lawyers then failed to appeal against that decree, making way for Erad to begin looking for ways to get the Sh540 million owed by NCPB plus interest.

“It’s a sitting duck. People may make a lot of noise but as long as it is not appealed, it will be executed to the last penny. Why they have not appealed is up to them,” said Mr Abdullahi.

He said the blame should be on the seven lawyers who have represented NCPB over the years for their negligence and blunders. The lawyers include Joshua Nyawara, Katwa Kigen, Mohammed Nyaoga, Juma Kiplenge and Patrick Lutta.

Mr Abdullahi said he had represented Erad three times at the High Court, three times at the Court of Appeal and once at the Supreme Court and had appeared before 11 judges.

This, he said, made it incredulous that someone could allege that he used his position as a Judicial Service Commission member to influence judges to make decisions in favour of his client.

Well known for his abrasive approach, Mr Abdullahi stunned the MPs led by Mr Adan Keynan when he initially objected to meeting them to discuss issues to do with his client.

“This interferes with the independence of the Bar. Lawyers act for thieves, robbers, con men, the poor, the rich…everybody. Lawyers have shops. It’s like asking a shopkeeper why he sold to a certain customer,” he added.

The lawyer denied claims by city businessman Brian Yongo that he was to share some Sh50 million from the proceeds of the case with him (Yongo). He described Mr Yongo as a “petty con man who can swear an affidavit on anything at a fee.”

He also denied an allegation in documents the committee has got indicating that his law firm participated in the August 2004 tender to supply maize to NCPB.