Several chief executives were entangled in the fights that left them facing jail terms or hefty fines. FILE
As companies battled in courtrooms to settle trade disputes in 2013, some of their chief executives were entangled in the fights that left them facing jail terms or hefty fines.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, group managing director of East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) Charles Ireland, and National Bank boss Munir Ahmed were accused of disobeying court orders.
This saw the CEOs of the blue-chip firms listed at the Nairobi bourse face contempt of court charges, forcing their legal teams to fight off the embarrassing suits.
But the Kenya Meat Commission boss was not lucky when he served two days at the Industrial Area GK prison in Nairobi in October for breach of court orders.
James Tendwa, acting managing commissioner of the meat firm, had been committed to a jail term of three months or a fine of Sh2 million, but the firm’s attempt to appeal the fines delayed prompting the brief stay at the prison.
These cases illustrated an aggressive Judiciary following reforms in the institution under the new legal dispensation, which saw several judges sacked and the Judiciary’s independence strengthened.
Musician John Boniface Maina, popularly known as JB Maina, wanted the court to take action on Mr Collymore and three other executives for allegedly disobeying court orders issued in May.
The High Court in May restrained Safaricom from storing and selling Mr Maina’s Kikuyu songs and directed the mobile company to grant the musician access to its head office for him to make copies of purchases and sales records of his songs.
But Mr Maina argued that Safaricom did not comply with the court orders, prompting the contempt of court suit.
The musician sued the telco for allegedly using 10 of his songs as ringtones through its “Skiza” and “Surf 2 Win’’ promotion.
Mr Maina was demanding Sh5 million in damages in addition to any money dues after accounting for the alleged illegal sale of his songs through promotions.
But the High Court early December declined to set a hearing date for a contempt suit against Mr Collymore to allow for an out-of-court settlement of the row.
The move was meant to ease pressure on Safaricom as it negotiated with Mr Maina. The court directed the parties to appear before it on January 23 to report the status of the negotiations.
James Tendwa, ACTING CEO KENYA MEAT COMMISSION
Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) acting chief executive James Tendwa was caught in a legal battle pitting the State-owned firm against its suspended boss, Dr Ibrahim Issak.
Dr Issak successful petitioned the industrial court to lift his May 28 suspension which was triggered by claims of poor performance, breach of procurement rules and failure to implement directors’ resolutions.
But the meat processor declined to reinstate the suspended boss, prompting Dr Issak to file contempt of court proceedings.
KMC lawyers raced to freeze the fines and the jail term through an appeal, but the process took longer than expected forcing Mr Tendwa to stay at the Industrial Area GK prison two days. The cash-strapped firm deposited the Sh2 million to secure his release.
Munir Ahmed, NATIONAL BANK MD
National Bank of Kenya MD Munir Ahmed had a troubling Christmas after a court issued an arrest warrant for him. Mr Ahmed, together with officials of the Aviation and Airport Services Workers Union, were accused of disobeying court orders.
The court had earlier frozen the union’s accounts at the bank’s Harambee Avenue in Nairobi, but National Bank allegedly allowed officials of the worker’s body to withdrawal money.
East African Breweries Limited (EABL) group managing director Charles Ireland and three other executives were saved from arrest following court orders in November for defying the Ministry of Labour on payment of terminal dues.
The court stopped his arrest and that of finance director Tracey Barnes and supply chain director Christian Von Der Heide, pending conclusion of a suit in which the executives want their prosecution dropped.
The order came a day before the expiry of a November 9 deadline issued by the Ministry of Labour for the brewer to pay 57 of its former employees terminal dues or have its executive face arrest.
The employees were attached to EABL’s subsidiary, Central Glass Industries (CGI), before their transfer to a human resources outsourcing firm prompting them to seek the help of the ministry to claim their retirement dues from the listed brewer.
The ministry said EABL unfairly terminated the workers’ contracts when it transferred them to Philmar Enterprise, which in turn moved them to Sheer Logic.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
