Kibaki loses bid to retain control of disputed company

Former President Mwai Kibaki and five other directors have lost a bid to retain control of a company they claim to have owned since the 1970s.

Mr Kibaki’s group wanted a new set of directors who had taken over the firm thrown out and the land-buying company to revert to them.

But High Court Judge Lucy Waithaka, in a judgment on Tuesday, ordered the two sets of directors to continue managing the company jointly.

The case on the determination of the ownership of Mathingira Wholesalers, located in Nyeri Town, has been pending since 2008, when the newly incorporated directors sued the Kibaki group.

They listed the former directors - Mr Kibaki, Kimwatu Kinyungu, Kiiru Gachuiga, Gadson Gitonga, Kibera Gatu and the former President’s brother Samwel Githinji Kibaki - as respondents.

They claimed they were being denied the right to be directors in the company after some of the former bosses willingly sold their company shares. Mr Gitonga, Mr Gatu and Mr Kibaki’s brother are among those who sold their shares.

DISCORD OVER MANAGEMENT

Through lawyer Lucy Mwai, they said the dispute arose after the company’s directors disagreed on its management after a new chairman was elected into office in October 2007 replacing Mr Kinyungu.

The new directors selected to manage the company in 2007 were Peter Nderitu, Paul Wamahiu, Sammy Maina and James Kanyi as the new chairman. Mr Wamahiu is now deceased.

The disputed land was bought by nine members, including Mr Kibaki, in the 1970s before they incorporated the company in 1983. The initial owners of the land also became the directors of the company.

The six former directors, through lawyer Kamau Kuria, claimed they owned the land where the company’s building stands and that the new members were illegally managing the firm.

CONTENTIOUS BUILDING

Mr Kibaki, who appeared in court in December 13, 2013, told the court that he was not aware that some of the original members of Mathingira Wholesalers had sold their shares.

He is one of the original nine Othaya members who founded the company, which later bought the contentious building in 1976. Mr Kibaki testified that some people had taken over the firm and withheld rent proceeds.

The High Court consequently appointed four directors, drawn from both the new and original groups, to manage the company pending the determination of the case.

Justice Waithaka yesterday ordered that all directors should continue managing the company. The directors who will manage the company are Mr Kibaki, Mr Kinyungu, Mr Gachuiga, Mr Nderitu, Mr Maina, Mr Kanyi, Francis Gathugwa, Muruthi Ng’ang’a and Philip Gichui.

She also ordered the directors to hold elections within three months.