Deal in the offing for JKIA duty free shops
PHOTO | FILE Businessman Kamlesh Pattni during a visit to Nation Centre in Nairobi over the controversial ownership of duty free shops at JKIA in November 2012.
What you need to know:
- Lawyers for KAA and Diplomatic Duty Free Ltd on Tuesday informed the High Court that negotiations were bearing fruit
- The leases for the shops expired on February 28 and July 21 and covered an area with shops and a bonded warehouse, and lounges at the arrival gates
A company whose duty free shops were demolished at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is on the verge of a deal with the Kenya Airports Authority to settle the dispute.
Lawyers for KAA and Diplomatic Duty Free Ltd on Tuesday informed the High Court that negotiations were bearing fruit and a settlement was likely to be arrived at on August 26.
The company, which is associated with businessman Kamlesh Pattni, sued the airports authority a month ago to prevent it from repossessing duty free shops that were previously leased to it at JKIA, Nairobi.
ALL GOODS CLEARED
The company’s leases had expired and it intended to pursue renewal with the KAA which was unwilling to do so.
It alleged that while KAA indicated that it required the area for expansion of the airport, denying it new leases was a ploy to lease the same space to the national carrier, Kenya Airways.
Although the company obtained an injunction preventing the authority from repossessing the shops or leasing them out to another firm, all the goods were cleared a day after the injunction.
Last week, the court was told that the parties were negotiating, and yesterday, the lawyers in the negotiations said a settlement was almost ready.
“Since we were here last time, the parties have made progress,” lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi for KAA told the court on Tuesday. “We need more time to tie up some loose ends,” he added.
Mr Ahmednasir further asked the court to allow them to come back on August 26 to record the formal settlement.
Lawyers for Diplomatic Duty Free Ltd and its sister firm, World Duty Free Company, confirmed this was the position as Mr Justice Alfred Mabeya granted the adjournment.
The leases for the shops expired on February 28 and July 21 and covered an area with shops and a bonded warehouse, and lounges at the arrival gates.
The current negotiations also seek a resolution of a similar dispute between the KAA and the World Duty Free Company Ltd, and the settlement to be recorded on August 26 will apply, the court was told.
