Court of Appeal blocks new Anglo Leasing-type payments
Jubilee coalition Members of Parliament walk out of a meeting called by Treasury secretary Henry Rotich in Nairobi to lobby them to back Anglo-Leasing payments. PHOTO/GERALD ANDERSON
What you need to know:
The Court of Appeal has blocked further payments of Anglo Leasing-type contracts in a case lodged by the LSK.
Treasury recently paid out Sh1.4 billion to Universal Satspace Limited, a firm tied to businessman Anura Perera.
The Court of Appeal has issued a temporary injunction barring any further payments of Anglo Leasing-type contracts in the wake of a presidential order that saw Sh1.4 billion paid to a controversial businessman.
Appelate court judges Philip Waki, Patrick Kiage and Lady Justice Agnes Murgor stopped any further payments to Mr Anura Perera and other claimants after a petition was filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). Mr Perera is seeking Sh3.5 billion in additional payments.
“Pending the hearing and determination of the intended appeal and petition, (we grant) conservatory orders staying payment of (the) Sh3.5 billion and any other monies resulting from the 18 Anglo Leasing-type contracts,” the judges ordered.
LSK had initially filed suit in the High Court against Treasury Cabinet secretary Henry Rotich and Attorney-General Githu Muigai, faulting the manner in which the Kenya government has handled Anglo Leasing-type cases abroad.
The High Court, however, refused to grant conservatory orders blocking payments.
The National Treasury paid out Sh1.4 billion to lawyers representing First Mercantile and Universal Satspace Limited, a firm connected to Perera, after losing to him in a London court in controversial circumstances. The payment was pushed through on the orders of President Uhuru Kenyatta to clear the way for the issuance of Kenya's first sovereign debt bond (Eurobond).
Perera immediately made an additional claim of Sh3.5 billion, which Rotich has said the government does not intend to pay.
Appearing for LSK, lawyer James Mwamu argued that the Treasury is at risk of losing billions of shillings if there is another Executive order to pay money allegedly owed under Anglo Leasing-type contracts. These are a batch of 18 security contracts from about a decade ago in which the government was either defrauded of money and irrevocable promissory notes on ghost or vastly inflated contracts.
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