Court declines to form 3-judge bench in Mumias Sugar Company case

The High Court has turned down an application to assemble a three-judge panel in the case challenging a Mumias Sugar company’s lease to the Sarrai Group of Uganda.
The application was denied by Justice Alfred Mabeya, who stated that the case is a basic commercial action and that allowing a three-judge bench would be a waste of judicial resources.
Mabeya further stated that solving the problem will not necessitate the use of three heads.
Following that, lawyer Mungai Kibe, who is representing the farmers, established that if Sarrai Group is awarded the deal, it will be unable to keep Mumias Sugar Company afloat.
“Mumias would go the way of other companies that have not survived receivership,” Kibe stated.
Kibe further told the court that the Mumias Sugar Company debt should be cleared as soon as possible.
According to him, it would take Sarrai Group at least 12 years to clear the debt and West Kenya 8 months.
Kibe also clarified that upon signing the lease, the winning company was required to pay six months upfront.
Sarrai was expected to pay Sh120 million, but only Sh60 million was received.
West Kenya, on the other side, would have paid Sh900 million if the lease had been given to them.
The petitioner’s attorney went on to criticize the receiver manager, Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana, and KBC for awarding the Mumias lease to Sarrai Group.

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