BY SAM ALFAN.
A law firm wants Mumias Sugar company Interim administrator Ponangipalli Rao to table in court a copy of lease granting Saarai Group to run the ailing miller for 20 years.
In a letter to Rao, the law firm also wants him to be furnish the court a copy of the valuation report prepared and which cost Sh21.9 million.
Wekesa and Simuyu advocate also wants Rao to be furnished with a copy of the Evaluation criteria prepared at the time of making the invitation for bids to lease the assets of the Company.
In a raft of documents demanded ahead of the hearing of the case, the firm also wants Rao to provide particulars of payments to the receiver manager, every year since his appointment up to December 31, 2021.
The firm is also seeking Rao to confirm all the parcels of land belonging to Mumias charged to KCB Bank Kenya, stating title numbers and acreage.
Also sought is a copy of the inventory of the company’s assets that were not handed over to Sarrai Group and being part of the assets that were not the subject of the evaluation of the tenders submitted.
The law firm says Rao should comply with the orders of the court made on November 19, 2021 by filing a detailed statement of accounts of all payments and receipts arising from the receivership of the Company from the date of his appointment.
“We note that in the circumstance of the now notorious contestations and challenges to your Receivership and Administration of the Company you do furnish the appropriate, honest, transparent, accountable answers to the contents of this letter and that dated February 18, 2022 in the timeframe set in our letter of February 18, 2022,” says the firm.
The firm further seek the administrator to confirm how much an acre or hectare of land in the general area of where the Company nucleus is situated is leaseable per annum and also specify and give an inventory of the intellectual property owned by the company to copyright, trademarks, patents and industrial design among others.
“Please note that the Deed of appointment of yourself as receiver of the Company dated September 20, 2019 at Schedule Il lists the Lenders of the Company as KCB Bank Kenya ltd, Eco Bank Kenya ltd,Société de Promotion et de Panicipation Pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco), Bank of Africa Kenya ltd, Commercial Bank of Africa ltd, Barclays Bank and Stanbic Bank Kenya ltd”, the letter states.
During the hearing, Justice Alfred Mabeya heard that the lease was granted to Sarrai Group which was the lowest bidder at Sh 5.8 billion leaving out West Kenya Sugar which was the highest bidder at Sh 36billion.
Veteran lawyer Paul Muite for the West Sugar pointed out that Mumias is a valuable company in terms of asset base and that West Kenya Sugar had offered Ksh 36billion in addition to monthly rent of Sh 150million, an upfront deposit of Sh 900million as security for monthly payment and a bank guarantee security bond of Sh 500million.
