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Elijah Ntongai, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than three years of financial, business, and technology research expertise, providing insights into Kenyan and global trends.
The Appellate Court has denied a request to reopen the case, bringing an end to the 32-year dispute involving Benjoh Amalgamated, Muigai's company, and the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).
The long-running legal battle over the auctioning of a 443-acre coffee farm in Thika, belonging to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin, Kungu Muigai, has come to a close.
The five-judge Appellate Court bench ruled that it is improper to seek a review of a judgment solely for the purpose of rehearing and obtaining a fresh decision.
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Justice Asike Makhandia, delivering the unanimous decision, expressed incredulity at Benjoh Amalgamated's attempt to revisit a consent decree more than three decades later.
“The applicant now wants this Court to believe that it took all those years to discover that it never instructed Mr (Gideon Kaumbuthi) Meenye to represent it. The applicant now wants us to believe all this time it never knew its lawyer on record,” Justices Makhandia, Kathurima M’Inoti, Sankale ole Kantai, Francis Tuiyott and John Mativo said in a ruling seen by TUKO.co.ke.
Benjoh Amalgamated had sought a review of a previous judgment, asserting that new information had come to light since the court's decision on December 15, 2017.
However, KCB's lawyer, Philip Nyachoti, argued against reopening the case, citing the multiple court orders already in effect based on numerous rulings and judgments by various judges over the years.
Nyachoti pointed out that Meenye had been actively available since 1992, and the matter of the consent execution was settled in a judgment as early as March 1998.
He also emphasised that Meenye’s affidavit was not included in the original trial's evidence, making it inadmissible at the appellate stage.
The judges underscored the enduring nature of the consent agreement, which had been in effect for 26 years when the appeal was filed on February 16, 2018, and had reached 32 years by the time of their decision.
They dismissed Benjoh's assertion that Meenye appeared out of nowhere to represent the company without instructions as "the hallmark of dishonesty."
Benjoh's lawyer, Kyalo Mbobu, contended that Meenye, who allegedly represented the firm in 1992, did not possess a valid practising certificate at the time the consent was recorded and adopted by the High Court on May 4, 1992, rendering the consent order and proceedings illegal.
However, this argument did not sway the Appellate Court.
The Appellate Court's decision effectively upholds the auctioning of the Thika coffee farm, concluding a protracted legal saga that has spanned more than three decades.
In related news, despite being Uhuru Kenyatta's cousin, Kungu Muigai was his critic during his tenure as head of state.
Uhuru Kenyatta's cousin Kungu Muigai was rewarded with a plum job by President William Ruto.
Ruto appointed him as a member and chairperson of the Kenya Cultural Centre Council.
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