Senior executives of Safaricom, including CEO Peter Ndegwa, have been dealt a setback as the High Court has refused to lift warrants of arrest issued against them last year.
The executives face arrest after Safaricom refused to obey a court order directing it to release Ksh7.7 million claimed by one Ephantus Njuki. The money was from an Invesco Assurance account that Safaricom operated through a Paybill number, and Njuki attached the account to recover a compensation claim. Njuki claimed Safaricom was served with a Garnishee order absolute on October 4, 2022, by way of email but failed to adhere to it.
Safaricom filed two applications seeking to overturn the decision to issue warrants of arrest against its directors, arguing that none of them were served personally with the proceedings that led to them being found in contempt of court.
The company further claimed that the email address used to serve them had been provided during the Covid-19 pandemic and was later temporarily suspended following a slump in Covid cases.
Also Read: Safaricom Faces Potential Lawsuit from Users over Unauthorized access to Client Bank Details
However, Justice Lucy Njuguna of Embu High Court dismissed the applications with costs, saying the directors did not challenge the ruling finding them in contempt of court.
The judge also noted that it was presumptuous to grant the orders sought as the trial court had not granted them leave to file an appeal at the High Court. She ruled that the applicant had to convince the court that it deserved the order under Section 75 of the Civil Procedure Act, which does not provide for automatic leave to appeal.
The directors facing arrest are Ndegwa, Dilip Pal, Christopher Kirugia, Winfred Ouko, Raisibe Morathi, Sitholizwe Mdalalose, Rose Ogega, Francesco Bianco, former CEO Michael Joseph, Bitange Ndemo, Mohamed Shameel Aziz Joosub, and Linda Muriuki. Senior Principal Magistrate Henry Nyakweba of Embu Magistrate Court had issued the warrant after Safaricom refused to obey the court order.
The fate of Safaricom’s appeal is yet to be determined, and the court cannot assume that the applicant will automatically be granted the leave sought. The judge’s decision to dismiss the applications and uphold the warrants of arrest is a significant blow to the senior directors of Safaricom.