Webtribe Limited owned online payments company JamboPay has failed in its bid to stop Equity Bank and Purple Royal Auctioneers from auctioning its land over an outstanding Sh139million loan.
The firm owned by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Danson Muchemi said the intended auction was illegal because the lender failed to issue the requisite statutory notices as envisaged in the Land Act.
High court judge, justice Oguttu Mboya however dismissed the suit filed in February last year by the firm against Equity Bank.
The judge discharged and vacated temporary orders issued on February 21, 2022, suspending the intended sale of the suit property.
He claimed the case by JamboPay was not only misconceived but equally devoid of merits since the bank had informed the company about the intended sale of the suit property as envisaged in the Land Act.
“It is my finding and holding that JampoPay and her directors were variously and duly served with the requisite statutory notices by and on behalf of Equity Bank… I also find and hold that having been duly served with the requisite statutory notices, JampoPay cannot now feign ignorance and contend that same was never served with requisite notices,” Justice Mboya claimed.
During the hearing, the lender told the court that at the time of filing its written submissions in court in December 2022, the outstanding amount was in the sum of Sh139,156,723 stating that the suit property was charged as security in September 2016.
“By charging the suit property to and in favour of the bank, JampoPay acknowledged that the suit property became a commodity for sale and therefore available for sale and disposal, subject to compliance with the requisite provisions of the law,” said Equity.
JamboPay has in the past been involved in revenue collection controversies involving publicly owned institutions.
In 2018, Webtribe Limited was cited for allegedly receiving payments through fraudulent means from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Webtribe owns the Jambopay system, an electronic payment system adopted by the Nairobi County government but has since been disengaged.
In early 2018, the Nairobi County Assembly Select Committee on Public Accounts directed City Hall not to renew Jambopay electronic cash collection system as the contract lapsed the same year.
Further, the committee observed that Jambopay had flouted the agreement by delaying to remit money collected up to 30 days instead within the mandatory timeframe of 72 hours.
Instead, the committee resolved the county government should develop internal foolproof automated revenue collection system by capacity building the ICT department.
Webtribe Limited and Nairobi County Government Jambopay deal has been clouded by mystery since its inception and has been marred by court cases and petitions to the Ehics and Anti-Corruption Commission over the procedure the lucrative contract was awarded.
In February 2018, WebTribe Limited threatened to end the deal with City Hall citing frustrations and political intimidation.
JamboPay Chief Executive Officer Danson Muchemi wrote the protest letter to the then Nairobi governor Mike Sonko through letter reference number Ref:WTL/2018/NCC/02/12-HQ dated February 26, 2018.