Blow for FKF as court freezes bank accounts
Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa reacts during the hearing of a case challenging several aspects of the electoral code of the Football Kenya Federation Electoral board at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Building, Nairobi on on November 19, 2019.
What you need to know:
- Williamson had moved to court in 2017 over what he termed unfair dismissal by FKF President Nick Mwendwa in 2016
- The orders to freeze the accounts were granted last week and extended on Wednesday
- A garnishee order is where the court directs a third party that owes money to the judgment debtor to instead pay the judgment creditor
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) have suffered a blow after the Employment and Labour Court in Nairobi Wednesday extended an order freezing their bank accounts after they failed to pay former Harambee Star coach Bobby Williamson damages over unfair and unlawful dismissal as ordered by the court last year.
Williamson had moved to court in 2017 over what he termed unfair dismissal by FKF President Nick Mwendwa in 2016.
The orders to freeze the accounts were granted last week and extended on Wednesday.
The plaintiff had sued FKF through its president Mwendwa and secretary general Robert Muthomi as the respondents.
When the court ruled in favor of Williamson last year and ordered that he be compensated, Mwendwa said they were going to appeal the ruling.
While giving the orders, Justice Byram Ongaya said that the application be certified urgent.
“That the application herein is certified as urgent and service upon the garnishee be dispensed within the first instance on account of its urgency,” Justice Ongaya said.
A garnishee order is where the court directs a third party that owes money to the judgment debtor to instead pay the judgment creditor. The third party is called a garnishee.
“That an ex-parte order be issued against the garnishee herein attaching forthwith all the funds held in a bank account numbers,” the order from Justice Ongaya further reads.
The court also ruled that a hearing date be set for confirmation of the attachment order and subsequent release of Sh57,371,363.33 both as damages and interest to the plaintiff.
“That a hearing date be set for confirmation of the attachment order absolute and to facilitate immediate release by the garnishee of the sum of Ksh Sh57,371,363,33 from the funds held in the subject bank account to the decree holder through its advocates on record,” Justice Ongaya further directed.
The compensation includes damages, costs and interests. The freezing of FKF's accounts comes less than a year after another former Stars coach Adel Amrouche was awarded Sh108 million for unfair dismissal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
