Kenya Power ordered to pay Sh500 million to Woolworths over 2009 Nakumatt Downtown fire

The High Court has ordered Kenya Power to pay Woolworths Limited more than Sh500 million over the 2009 fire tragedy that gutted the Nakumatt Down Town Supermarket on Kenyatta Avenue, killing 30 people and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Justice Jacqueline Mong'are said in a ruling that the electricity company was to blame for the fire.

She said Woolworths Limited, which owned the building, had proved its case and therefore deserved to be compensated.

She ordered Kenya Power to pay Woolworths $3,085,600 for loss of rent, Sh7.4 million for land rent and rates, Sh58.5 million for the value of the building, Sh4 million for the cost of demolishing and rehabilitating the property, Sh185,600 for surveyor's fees, Sh243,600 for legal fees and Sh469,800 for the cost of clearing the debris with interest from 13 August 2009.

The judge also awarded the owner general, aggravated and/or exemplary damages with interest from the date of her judgment until payment in full.

In her ruling, Judge Mong'are said that the owner of the prime property had proved that the power company was at fault for the fire.

"In view of the foregoing and the evidence adduced before this court and in the absence of any other evidence to the contrary, I am satisfied that there is prima facie evidence before this court that Kenya Power is solely responsible for the two fire outbreaks at the suit property," Justice Mong'are ruled.

However, she absolved Nakumatt Holdings Limited and its director Atulkumar Maganlala Shah of any blame for the fire and the loss of property and lives.

"Witnesses from Nakumatt Holdings and Mr Shah testified that the said fire was the result of mistakes made in the process of repairing a fault at transformer No. G1583411 located near the Nation Centre following complaint No. 1675312 by Nakumatt Holdings regarding the interruption of power supply," the court ruled.