Former NBK bosses barred from holding office

Ex-National Bank of Kenya CEO Munir Ahmed

NAIROBI, KENYA: Ex-National Bank boss Munir Ahmed and Solomon Alubala, former head of treasury will not be allowed to serve as executives in listed firms while their appeal against the market regulator proceeds.

The two obtained a temporary reprieve against fines imposed by the Capital Markets Authority for their roles in NBK fraud but could not convince the judge to lift their suspensions from participating in the market.

Mr Munir was slapped with a Sh5 million fine and kicked out of the market for three years while Mr Alubala was fined Sh104.8 million and disqualified for 10 years.

Justice Nyamweya said the freeze on implementing the sanction only applied to the payment of the fees as this would cause the applicants to suffer loss of their money while their appeal is ongoing.

“For avoidance of doubt, the leave shall not operate as a stay of the disqualification of the applicant that was imposed by the said decision,” Justice Nyamweya said.

The courts raised a number of issues against suspending the ban to serve in listed firms after CMA argued that this would be tantamount to overhauling the sanctions which were already applicable.

The Judge said since the move had already been implemented, the stay order should be used sparingly, and public interest was involved.

“Suspending the application of the disqualification will also affect other members of the public in the event that he is allowed to continue participating in the financial and capital markets,” Justice Nyamweya said.

Munir is accused of having approved the questionable invoices for up to Sh5 million, misleading the board over disposal of assets and loan reclassification that hid bad loans thus misleading the public on the state of the bank.

Alubala is part of the directors punished for their role in the deposit-mobilising consultancies scam that cost the state-owned lender Sh1 billion.