IRA petitions High Court judges to freeze the seizure of its account in Sh315million legal fees battle
The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) has petitioned the High Court judges to freeze the seizure of its accounts in a Sh315.2 million unpaid legal fees case.
This is after lawyer Waweru Gatonye sought orders to attach bank accounts two weeks ago after winning an eight-year battle over legal fees that occurred after representing the IRA in a court battle against the collapsed insurer Lakestar Insurance Company.
In an affidavit, the IRA Chief Executive Officer Godffrey Kiptum says if the lawyer is allowed to take money from its accounts then its appeal will be rendered irrelevant with no guarantee of refund in the event the appeal succeeds.
“If the court grants the orders sought by the creditor in the present application, the entire budget of IRA will be affected and its operations will completely ground to a halt which will occasion a great injustice to the Kenyan public that the applicant serves,” reads part the affidavit.
The insuarance regulator hired Waweru Gatonye and Company Advocates to defend it in court against the collapsed insurance company owned by John Kipkemboi Kilel.
Kilel was seeking a compensation of Sh12 billion claiming that Lakestar Insurance’s dissolution was falsely engineered in 2002.
He accused former IRA CEO Sammy Makove of providing false information to liquidate the insurance company.
The regulator placed Lakestar under statutory administration in 2002 before managers recommended liquidating the company a year later.
He sought a prize of Sh2 billion for lost business opportunities, Sh3.7 billion for loss of property, capital gains, and loss of cash, as well as Sh6.2 billion for reputational damage.
He also requested Sh39.6 million for loss of monthly earnings and Sh6.2 million for loss of investment earnings.
After representing the authority, the High Court awarded Gatonye 262.9 million shillings and the fee has been increased to Sh315.3 million shillings, including interest.
However, the IRA argues that the fee is high and punitive, saying it has no basis in law and is an unfair enrichment of the attorney.
