Tribunal wants judge fired over loan case

The reasons a High Court judge has been recommended for removal from office can now be revealed after a report sent to President Uhuru Kenyatta outlined the justifications given by the tribunal picked to investigate his conduct.

The report guiding the President on the sacking of judge Martin Muya shows that he issued an injunction stopping NIC Bank from seizing 14 lorries used as security for a loan that a private firm, Kipsigis Stores, had borrowed from the lender. The injunction gave the company a window to sell two lorries and dismantle the 12 others and sell them off as spare parts.

Kipsigis Stores had borrowed Sh76 million from the bank.

Justice Muya is also accused of taking more than five months to give reasons for granting the injunction, making it difficult for NIC Bank to challenge his decision at the Court of Appeal. The judge is now fighting to keep his job after the tribunal appointed by President Kenyatta to investigate his conduct recommended his removal. The tribunal, chaired by retired Court of Appeal judge Alnashir Visram, was formed following a complaint from NIC Bank, who accused Justice Muya of failing to protect assets that were being used as security for a bank loan.

Evidence brought to the tribunal shows that Kipsigis Stores accessed two log books that were under the custody of the bank and went on to sell the lorries. The other lorries were dismantled and sold as spare parts due to lack of log books, which made it difficult for the company to sell them as complete units. The lorries were jointly registered in the names of the bank and the two directors. The lorries were to be transferred to them once they completed paying the agreed instalments.

NIC says it cannot trace the vehicles and the bank loan is yet to be paid. The bank said it had informed Justice Muya that two directors of Kipsigis Stores, Alfred Kipkorir Mutai and Samuel Cheruiyot Mutai, were disposing of the vehicles but the Judge allegedly ignored the bank’s pleas.

Evidence presented to the tribunal indicates that the bank advanced various credit facilities to Kipsigis Stores Ltd and entered into various agreements with its directors on various dates and for varying amounts. In the agreements, the two executed personal guarantees, undertaking prompt payment of the loan in the event that the company defaulted.

However, the loan fell into arrears and the lender sought to repossess the vehicles. The two directors, however, went to court and blocked the move in September 2016. The Judge granted the injunction and the matter was adjourned on several occasions before it was lifted and reinstated and parties given a hearing date.

Justice Muya finally heard the matter and gave his ruling but did not give his reasons immediately. Instead, he waited for five months. By then, some vehicles had been sold and the company placed under receivership over yet another debt by a different party.

NIC Bank said it could not trace the vehicles although it was brought to the attention of the judge on April 10, 2017, when the bank filed an application under certificate of urgency, seeking to lift the injunction. The bank complained that the injunction protected Kipsigis Stores and gave the directors freedom to sell the vehicles.

The judge defended himself saying he could not give his reasons at once because of the pressure of work, and that in the intervening period, ordered a status quo.