Suspended Portland directors may resume office, says court

• Application sought by minister Kingi dismissed as it would ‘plunge the company into more problems’

The suspended managing director of the East Africa Portland Cement Company and the board directors can resume office after the High Court dismissed an application by the Industrialisation minister challenging their reinstatement

The court dismissed the application challenging their reinstatement, saying suspending the orders will plunge the company into more problems.

“A time has come for decisions to be made within a company’s constitution without external interference,” presiding Judge Joseph Mutava ruled.

He said the decision of the acting Industrialisation minister Amason Kingi to suspend the managing director and the entire board of the company had caused confusion among shareholders.

“There is a need to restore normalcy in the company’s operations,” the judge added.

On Monday, Justice Mutava ordered the reinstatement of Mr Kephar Tande and other directors of the board, and ordered the minister to stop interfering with the internal management of the company.

The minister suspended the board on December 22, last year, pending forensic investigation into the affairs of the company on allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Mr Peter Korir was appointed as acting managing director.

The judge also restrained Mr Kingi and the permanent secretary from publishing information through the media informing the public that managing director Kephar Tande and the board of directors had no authority to transact business for the company.

Mr Tande and the chairman of the board, Mr Mark ole Karbolo, moved to court soon after their suspension claiming that the minister and PS Karanja Kibicho were illegally and unlawfully interfering in the management of the cement company.

Other directors who filed the application are Titus Naikuni, (Kenya Airways CEO), Alex Kazongo (NSSF managing trustee) and lawyer Hamish Keith (a managing partner at Dally & Figgis).

The minister filed another petition seeking to overturn the ruling on grounds that the court was misled into making the orders.

The judge, however, noted that the management application was made out of desperation after the company was expelled from trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchange and that it was not his duty to know why the injunctive orders sought by the directors in the other case were not granted.

Suspending the orders, the judge added, will expose the court to ridicule in its ability to give rulings and mediate between disputing parties.