Firm offers to negotiate with ex-port workers in Sh70m suit

Paul Ogemba – Mon, 17. September 2018 3:01 PM – New reporter story (Nairobi)

Company opts to negotiate with former KPA employees over Sh70 million land dispute

Courts. Directors want row moved out of court

A company accused of defrauding retired port workers of Sh70 million has offered to settle the matter out of court.

Kikambala Development Company Ltd and its directors asked the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to give them more time to settle the dispute with the former Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) workers.

Earlier, EACC had told the court how the company conspired to steal millions of shillings from former KPA employees by promising to sell them 100 acres of land, which was later found not to exist.

The suit was filed by EACC before the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Court, to recover the money suspected to have been fraudulently paid to the company by trustees of the Kenya Ports Authority Retirement Benefit Scheme (KPARBS).

The EACC said it received information that KPARBS entered into an illegal sale agreement with Kikambala Development Company Ltd for the purchase of 100 acres in Kikambala, Kilifi County, at a cost of Sh700 million, yet the company had no such land.

“EACC established that KPARBS executed the sale agreement in December 2014 and made a Sh70 million deposit when the company was not the registered owner of the said land,” said EACC’s lawyer, Simiyu Lunyolo.

Registered owner

According to EACC, as soon as the company received the Sh70 million deposit, it went to the land’s registered owner, Amkemi Farm Limited, with a proposal to buy the 100 acres at Sh430 million.

According to EACC, the decision to approach the land’s registered owner was part of the conspiracy to make a quick profit of Sh270 million after receiving Sh700 million from KPARBS.

“They acted in concert to defraud the scheme, the retirees and KPA. Their trick was discovered when the land’s registered owner, Amkemi Farm Limited, rejected the offer to buy the land at Sh430 million,” said Mr Lunyolo.

Instead of refunding the Sh70 million to the KPA retirees, EACC said the company invested it in buying properties for its directors.

The company, in its response through lawyer Joseph Kanyi, denied any wrongdoing, stating that the transaction was purely commercial and that the Anti-Corruption and Economics Crimes Court had no jurisdiction to force it to return the Sh70 million.

Mr Kanyi submitted that the company did not intend to defraud the KPA retirees and only entered into the agreement to sell them the land after being assured by the owners, Amkemi Farm Limited.

“The company gave a professional undertaking that they would ensure smooth passage of the land to the KPA retirees once they acquired it from the original owners. It was not a scheme to steal from them as being alleged,” said Kanyi.

According to the lawyer, EACC was not party to the land deal's negotiations and sale agreement and should not be allowed to pursue the recovery of the funds.

Concealing facts

The lawyer also accused EACC of concealing facts in the case, stating that KPARBS had filed a similar case, which is pending before the Mombasa High Court.

Five officials of KPARBS who are listed in the case as part of the conspiracy to defraud the retirees also denied the allegations, stating that they acted in the interests of their members to help them own land.

The parties were given until October 8 by the court’s deputy registrar, Rosalinda Aganyo, to agree if they will settle the matter out of court.