BY SAM ALFAN.
A relative to former president Uhuru Kenyatta has been allowed to access over Sh50 million held in the bank.
Udi Gechaga has been in and out of court tussling against his stepmother Margaret Gacigi, over the control and ownership of Sh55.9 million in a bank.
High Court judge Alfred Mabeya disallowed a request by the stepmom, who had sought to block the release of the funds pending determination of an application filed in court.
“The sum of Sh. 55,987,559.65 held in a joint interest earning account at Kenya Commercial Bank Limited account in the names of Hamilton Harrison & Mathews and J.M Njenga & Co. Advocates pursuant to the court order of 4th June 2015 be released to Hamilton Harrison & Mathews Advocates for the 2nd and 3rd defendant together with interest accrued thereon,” ruled Judge Mabea.
She had claimed interest in the funds.
“What this court deciphers is that the plaintiff is determined to avoid the contractual terms of the consent. It is unsettling that the same plaintiff who brought the suit before the Commercial Court and dragged the defendants into litigation, is the same one who now contends that the issue can only be determined in the Succession Cause,” the judge said.
Margaret had claimed in her court papers that Udi fraudulently and illegally forged the transfer of 3,283,494 shares held by her husband – the late Dr Bethuel Mareka Gecaga- in Gateway Insurance to Quinvest Ltd sometime in 2012.
The woman the court to declare that the transfer of the shares was unprocedural because they belonged to Dr Gecaga and by extension to herself as the spouse.
The money was later deposited in a joint account at KCB in the names of Hamilton Harrison & Mathews and J.M Njenga & Co. Advocates.
In his application, Udi told the court that the funds had been kept from him for 6 years and it was in the interest of justice that the money be released.
A previous application by Margaret on the contestation of the money was dismissed by the High Court and later by the Court of Appeal. She later moved to the Family Division of the High Court and asked the court not to release the money pending the determination of the succession case.
It was her argument that the application had a high chance of success as the funds in issue belonged to her late husband and the best forum to canvas the issue was at the Succession Court.
Udi says the shares were transferred with the knowledge and consent of Dr Gecaga and the move was effected transparently and legally and was not tainted with any fraud or illegality as alleged.
He added that a power of attorney he held was validly given by his father and that Margaret was never a shareholder at Gateway.
Further, the shares were transferred before she got married to Dr Gecaga and therefore, there was no obligation to seek her consent before making the move.
