Court stops sacking of Karbolo as Portland Cement chairman

By EVELYN KWAMBOKA

The High Court has stopped President Kibaki’s decision to replace the new East Africa Portland Cement board chairman.

Sitting in Nairobi, High Court Judge Mohammed Warsame issued interim orders stopping the Government from interfering with the company’s management structure, pending a ruling to be delivered on March 16.

“To avoid anything that upsets or prejudices the dispute and the case of all parties, I am inclined to grant orders sought,” the judge ruled.

President Kibaki last week revoked the appointment of Mark ole Karbolo as chairman of the board of directors of the troubled East Africa Portland Cement (EAPCC).

The president through a special Kenya gazette notice number 1608 published on Friday last week, also appointed Dr Isaac ole Mapenay to replace ole Karbolo.

Interim orders

The order stays in force until next month when the court delivers its ruling in a case in which EAPCC is seeking a declaration on whether it is a State corporation or private entity. It also wants to know whether the President has power to hire and fire its board members.

Justice Warsame’s order effectively suspends the Friday special gazette notice and all its contents including the appointment of ole Mapenay as the new chairman for a period of three years, pending hearing and determination of a case that was filed by the company last month.

The court’s decision delivered Thursday now stops a meeting that had been scheduled for Friday at the company premises. It is in this meeting that ole Mapenay — a lecturer at the University of Nairobi’s department of pharmacology and toxicology — was to be introduced formally to other board members and staff.

Justice Warsame issued the order yesterday following a successful application that was filed by Karbolo through his lawyer Evans Monari.

In the January orders first issued by Justice Joseph Mutava, acting Industrialisation Minister Amason Kingi and his PS were stopped from continuing to enforce the suspension of ole Karbolo and Managing Director Kephar Tande, pending hearing and determination of a case filed EAPCC.