Kamlesh Pattni reneging puts lawyer’s Sh290m legal fees in limbo
Lawyer Fred Ngatia at the Supreme Court. FILE PHOTO |
What you need to know:
- Long running saga in Kenya Airports Authority duty free shops contract.
- Businessman goes back to court even after agreeing to let duty free shops go.
The filing of new court cases by controversial businessman Kamlesh Pattni, demanding sole and exclusive rights to operate duty free shops in airports, has thrown a Sh290 million fee demand by a city lawyer into jeopardy.
In correspondence seen by the Nation, Fred Ngatia has raised a fee note of Sh290 million for representing Kenya Airports Authority in getting Mr Pattni and his company World Duty Free to, among other things, drop the claim of sole and exclusive rights to operate duty free shops at all airports.
This followed a deal brokered by Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau. Mr Pattni has, however, reneged on his promise.
On February 4th, World Duty Free — a company associated with Mr Pattni — moved to court asking it to stop KAA from interfering with its “sole and exclusive rights to operate duty free shops at airports” in signing a new deal with Dufry International.
Payment for the Sh290 million — part of Sh384 million charged for the brief — which included defending KAA in two court cases filed by WDF, has seen a protracted war between KAA and Mr Ngatia.
In one of the letters, Mr Ngatia appears to lose patience with KAA’s insistence that payment for Sh290 million can only be made on filing of a consent and marking of the cases by Mr Pattni and WDF as settled. “…, you have, for the past one year or thereabout declined to pay the modest fee note that we presented to you. A game of ping pong is at play between management and the board,” Mr Ngatia notes.
AMMOUNT BE NEGOTIATED
Mr Ngatia’s letter was in reaction to KAA’s note setting out the board of director’s terms of payment. In the letter, the board requested that the amount be negotiated to Sh120 million “in full and final settlement” of the fees and on receipt of consents.
Mr Ngatia counters this saying payment ought to be done even without consents. “The payment has been due and owing since the brief entrusted to us was professionally executed and the public statements thereafter made should have been recorded by yourselves. In sum, we concluded the task entrusted to us and your official cannot place illegal obstacles on our fee entitlement. That is plainly absurd and unacceptable.”
Last week, the board of the authority ordered top four managers — KAA managing director Lucy Mbugua, general manager finance John Thumbi, company secretary Katherine Kisila and general manager procurement Obadiah Orora — to go on leave pending investigations into their dealing with Dufry International.
