Disquiet has rocked senior officials of the country’s largest telco firm Safaricom after a businessman sought a court order to bring them to book after they refused to release Sh7.7million he is claiming from Invesco Assurance firm.
Ephantus Mbogo Njuki wants the Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa, directors Dilip Pal, Winfred Ouko, and Linda Muriuki among others jailed for six months for refusing to surrender the money as directed by the court.
The businessman says he obtained a garnishee order to settle his claim against Invesco Assurance.
Embu senior resident magistrate H. Nyakweba ruled that he does not see why the corporate veil (holding shareholders or directors personally liable) should not be lifted and hold the directors in contempt of court.
“In the upshot, I allow the application dated 03.11.2022 as prayed. As a result, I issue a warrant of arrest against all the directors of Safaricom PLC,” the magistrate said on December 8, 2022, adding that the directors should be presented before him as soon as possible but not later than January 10, 2023.
Mbogo told the court that he served the order upon Safaricom on October 4, directing the telcos to release the money but the company refused to comply.
The magistrate noted that Safaricom was served with the garnishee order since the company’s representatives were not in court when the order was issued on September 29.
He said going by the precedent set by the Court of Appeal, Safaricom was duly served.
“Despite having been served with the said order, the application subject to this ruling as well as the order of 09.11.2022, the garnishee (Safaricom) did not find it fit to participate in this proceedings and explain itself. I find this to be a blatant violation of court orders,” he said.
