Top court throws out Sh56m Macharia case

Businessman Samuel K. Macharia’s hopes of getting reprieve over a Sh56 million dispute with a bank were shattered when the Supreme Court dismissed his application.

Supreme Court president Willy Mutunga and judges Philip Tunoi, Jacktone Ojwang’, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung’u ruled they had no jurisdiction over matters that had been determined by the Court of Appeal before the promulgation of the Constitution.

Mr Macharia and his company, Madhupaper International Limited, in liquidation, appealed to the Supreme Court against a 2008 Court of Appeal ruling that reversed a Sh56 million award to them against the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). (READ: Supreme Court to hear S.K. Macharia, KCB dispute)

The application was part of one of the most protracted disputes between an individual and a bank that started in 1981 when the company borrowed Sh30 million for expansion.

According to Mr Macharia, former President Daniel Moi ordered the project cancelled, disrupting repayment of the loan, which was now Sh54 million.

After negotiations, Mr Macharia agreed to repay the loan but in 1992 filed a suit in the High Court saying he had been coerced.

The High Court ruled in his favour and ordered KCB to pay him the principal and interest, totalling Sh129 million.

The bank appealed and in 2008, the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment.

Mr Macharia, who owns Royal Media Services, then sought the Supreme Court’s intervention.

In dismissing his application, the judges said they could only exercise jurisdiction as conferred by the Constitution or other written law.

They said decisions of the Court of Appeal were final and if they allowed appeals in cases the court had finalised prior to the promulgation of the Constitution, this would trigger an avalanche of cases from dissatisfied citizens.