Lawyer takes on CBK boss over Imperial Bank saga

Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has challenged the legality of Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge’s decisions on the Imperial Bank’s saga.

Mr Abdullahi has accused Dr Njoroge of operating without a board - which was gazetted yesterday - one-and-a-half years after President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed its chairman, Mohamed Nyaoga.

President Kenyatta gazetted the appointment of the five directors - Ravi Ruparel, Nelius Kariuki, Charity Kisotu, Rachel Dzombo and Samson Cheruiyot - on Tuesday to serve a four-year term.

The board is expected to meet not less than once every two months to discuss the regulator’s performance, check decisions made by management and consider capital investments.

Mr Abdullahi has written to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), demanding that Dr Njoroge be investigated for abuse of office and usurping powers of the board by running the country’s regulator as a “one-man show”.

UNCOVERED FRAUD

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“Any CEO who spends or incurs expenditure without the authority of the board will be acting contrary to the law,” he wrote on behalf of the Nairobi Law Monthly, a controversial commentary magazine.

He argued that section 13 of the Banking Act makes it mandatory that the governor cannot incur any expense without the board approval.

Mr Abdullahi, who also represents Imperial Bank shareholders, cited the same argument in court in defence of the lender that was in receivership in October last year after the regulator uncovered fraud.

The controversial lawyer argued Dr Njoroge had made the decision to close the bank as an individual, which is against the law since CBK did not have a properly constituted board of directors at the time.

The Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) and CBK had attempted to disqualify Mr Abdullahi from the Imperial Bank case, citing conflict of interest since he had acted as a legal adviser of the lender.