Ex-ruling party Kanu loses Sh212m power bill dispute
Kanu House in Nakuru, which Kenya Power is seeking to sell to recover a Sh738 million debt.
The Court of Appeal has struck out an appeal filed by the former ruling party Kenya African National Union (Kanu) challenging a judgment that allowed the auction of its building in Nakuru due to a Sh212 million electricity bill owed to Kenya Power.
Justices Daniel Musinga, Imaana Laibuta, and John Mativo struck out the appeal for being filed outside of the timelines prescribed by the court’s regulations.
The decision marks the end of a two-decade-old court dispute that started in 2004, two years after Kanu lost power in the General Election.
The appeal had been lodged by five officials of the Kanu Nakuru branch on May 7, 2018, while the judgment was delivered on November 17, 2016.
Though they lodged the notice of appeal within 14 days after the judgment, as provided in the court’s regulations, they did not file the record of appeal within 60 days after filing the notice.
The appellate judges also found that Kanu’s advocate, Lawrence Mwangi, did not furnish his Kenya Power colleague, Mellap Wataka, with a copy of a letter he had written to the High Court asking for the typed proceedings of the case. The judges allowed a request by Kenya Power to strike out the appeal.
The ruling brings to an end a 19-year-old legal dispute pitting Kenya Power & Lighting Company Ltd against Kenya’s Independence political party over a debt of Sh212,816,986. The sum was on account of electricity supplied to the party’s building in Nakuru but not paid.
Kenya Power filed the suit in 2004 against the office bearers of the party at the time — Julius ole Sunkuli (acting secretary-general), Mohammed Yusuf Haji (national treasurer), and Bonaya Godana (deputy secretary).
The State corporation claimed that the party had defaulted on electricity bills for the eight years it had offices at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) during the late President Daniel arap Moi’s tenure.
Kanu took possession of KICC in 1995 but was kicked out in 2003, shortly after the late President Mwai Kibaki took the reins of power. The party’s bid to reclaim the iconic building fell through after the Constitutional Court in 2008 dismissed a petition it filed challenging its eviction.
On August 7, 2009, the party suffered another blow after Justice Jessie Lesit (now an appellate judge) entered judgment against Kanu for the sum of Sh212,816,986 with interest at court rates from the date of filing suit until payment in full and costs.
In execution of the court’s decree, Kenya Power obtained an order for attachment of the property (Nakuru Municipality Block 9/3l), and a prohibitory order against the property was issued by the court.
Five party officials—John Muthee Ngunjiri, Peter Otieno Oketch, Charles Maina Wandaka, Evans Ekaliche Attanasi, and Silas Richard Mukolwe—objected to the intended sale of the suit property. They said they were the duly registered trustees of Kanu (Nakuru branch).
