Court orders Balala to return Sh150M copper to dealer

What you need to know:

The cargo has been lying at the port after it was confiscated by officials who claimed that Stema Alloys did not have an export licence.
The consignment is estimated to be worth Sh150 million based on the current price of Sh623,000 per tonne.

A court has ordered Mining secretary Najib Balala to return copper worth Sh150 million confiscated from a mineral dealer at Mombasa port in August.

Justice Eric Ogola last week ruled that the State acted with impunity when it impounded the shipment of 240 tonnes of copper owned by Stema Alloys and bound for South Korea.

The cargo has been lying at the port after it was confiscated by officials who claimed that Stema Alloys did not have an export licence.

“The Mining CS and commissioner ought to have given a written notice to Stema Alloys explaining the reasons as to why the goods were impounded and citing what would happen to the goods,” said Justice Ogola.

“The defendants cannot act as if we live in the Kenya of the 1980s where impunity reigned and State officers grew rich from wealth they did not deserve. They forget that Stema Alloys had also used a lot of resources to mine the minerals.”

He added that a few State officials stand to benefit should the confiscated copper be relinquished to the government.

The consignment is estimated to be worth Sh150 million based on the current price of Sh623,000 per tonne.

The price of the metal has been on rising on increased demand from heavy consumers like China, fuelling vandalism in the region. The judge declined to award Stema Alloys compensation, arguing that it had no valid licence and gave the Mining ministry seven days to grant the firm an export permit.

The judge also ordered Mr Balala and the Commissioner issue Stema Alloys with the licence and let it export the minerals without any conditions.

Stema Alloys held that it had been issued with both permits, but Mr Balala argued that the firm had attempted to use a forged export permit that had originally been issued to one Mary Akinyi.

A director at the mining firm told the court that Stema Alloys had applied for an export license which was issued by Mr Collins Ngigi, a senior clerk at the Mining ministry.

Justice Ogola ruled that the standoff over the copper cargo could be the result of deal gone sour between Stema Alloys and officials at the Mining ministry.