Tatu City local partners defend PwC audit

Kenyan partners in the Sh240 billion Tatu City project have opposed an application filed by foreign shareholders contesting the mandate of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which has been hired to audit offshore loans borrowed by the real estate developer.

Norwegian director Hans Jochum Horn claimed in a recent application that local Tatu City directors Nahashon Nyagah and Vimal Shah are colluding with PwC to expand the scope of audit approved by the court in March this year.

Mr Nyagah and Mr Shah through lawyer Nelson Havi yesterday told Mr Justice Eric Ogola that the board of directors of the multi-billion shilling project had in a meeting held in January this year appointed PwC to audit the foreign loans.

“The order made by the court on March 6, 2015 only reiterated the board’s decision and limited the time within which the audit report should be submitted to the court to 45 days or within such reasonable period of time as shall be adequate to perform the audit,” Mr Havi said.

The audit is expected to confirm the amount borrowed since the inception of the project, being Tatu City Ltd and its sister company Kofinaf Company Ltd, and the current status of the loans.

Lawyer Tom Macharia for the foreign shareholders, however, said the two local partners have asked PwC to investigate the ownership of Tatu City’s offshore lenders, which was not part of the parameters set by the court orders on March 6.

The foreign shareholders want the court to compel the parties in the suit to hire auditors from either KPMG or Ernst & Young for the in-depth audit of the offshore loan accounts.

Mr Shah has in the court papers refuted claims that PwC’s audit could be compromised because they are the external auditors of Bidco Oil Refineries Ltd, where he is the CEO.