Estranged wife, bankruptcy suit that almost ruined Suleiman Shahbal’s political career
Bankruptcy charges against business tycoon and Mombasa politician Suleiman Shahbal could have deemed his political ambitions a decade ago.
Shahbal, one of the contestants battling for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket in the run up to the August 9 polls was then, accused of reneging in paying her Sh5million debt by his estranged wife Rose Wahito.
However, political career of the US graduate in business and finance with a career spanning close to three decades now in the financial sector continues to rise.
Before joining politics, Shahbal held various key positions with leading banks and also served as the Vice-President of Citibank in the Middle East, and deputy general manager – International Operations-with BankMuscat in Oman.
In 2013, he lost the Mombasa County governor’s seat while facing a bankruptcy suit lodged by Wahito over a debt of Sh5.2 million.
Wahito moved to the Commercial Court division of the High Court in Nairobi seeking orders to declare Shahbal bankrupt saying he had reneged in paying her Sh5, 263,110 as ordered by a Magistrate Court.
The dispute involved Wahito, Shahbal and Trifoil Petroleum, an oil marketer linked to the politician
Shahbal is the Managing Director of GulfCap Group and Gulf Investments and served as chairman and founder of the Islamic bank Gulf African Bank in Kenya until September 2012.
The suit was prompted by a complaint letter Wahito wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on December 11, 2012 over the debt triggered the court case and subsequent bankruptcy proceedings.
The letter which is annexed as an exhibit in the bankruptcy suit says in part: “Suleiman Shahbal was my husband and hitherto we are still married though separated, he has not given me Talak.
Under the Muslim law, Talak, is an Arabic word meaning “to untie the matrimonial knot by articulating a word denoting divorce.”
In court documents, Wahito said that when she got married to Shahbal, they went into a joint business venture but Shahbal “implored me that he becomes my nominee in all companies and that my name should not appear anywhere in the record in the event the firm’s went burst, I would be safe from any liabilities, a request I acceded to.”
Wahito averred that the husband held her shares in Gulf African Bank.
However, in the course of their marriage, she further alleges she loaned her husband Sh5 million through Trifoil Petroleum in October, 1998 and also granted Shahbal another Sh1.8 million personal loan.
Consequently, she moved to a Nairobi magistrate’s court last and sued Shahbal and Trifoil Petroleum and obtained a judgement on January, 2013 for Sh5.2 million.
When the businessman declined to effect payment as per the court order, Wahito through her lawyer Alloys Kwengu lodged the bankruptcy proceedings-BN No. 3 of 2012.
Now, Shahbal is seeking to succeed Ali Hassan Joho as the Mombasa County governor to whom he lost a decade ago.
He is battling for the ODM ticket with Mvita Member of Parliament (MP) Abdulswamad Nassir.
During the recently held but disputed nominations, Shahbal said the Mombasa residents should be given an opportunity to vote.
“I do not know why we cannot have nominations for the rank of governor and senator. Nominations have been very peaceful, save for a few hitches on technicalities. Mombasa residents have conducted themselves in an orderly manner, therefore we should also have primaries for governor and senator seats.” Shahbal said.
He exuded confidence that if nominations were held in Mombasa, he will win.
