US aviation tycoon falls out with Kenya partner
One of the Lady Lori helicopters at Wilson Airport on February 5, 2009. FILE PHOTO | LIZ MUTHONI |
What you need to know:
- Tropic Air operates from Nanyuki and is famous for rescue missions, among them the rescue of Ugandan soldiers whose plane crashed in Mount Kenya a few years ago.
- The firm has also shot very many documentaries and commercials among them the ‘‘Niko na Safaricom’’ advert.
A US tycoon has left the courtroom with a Sh6 million bill after a protracted five-year row with a Kenyan businessman who had leased his charter planes.
James Stanley Denooyer has been embroiled in a bitter row with James David Roberts, the owner of charter flight company Tropic Air Limited.
Mr Denooyer, the operator of aviation firm Lady Lori Limited, moved to court in 2009 claiming compensation of Sh22.2 million that he alleged to be the cost he incurred in repairing planes that he had leased to Tropic Air, but that were allegedly damaged as a result of mishandling.
Mr Denooyer had also sought a further payment of Sh14 million claiming it was unpaid amount resulting from the operation, charter, training, and use of the aircraft.
The US businessman, however, ended up the loser in the case, whose judgment was passed on Tuesday last week, as Justice Jonathan Havelock rejected his claim, noting that no evidence was produced.
