BY SAM ALFAN .
A Kenyan businessman has claimed that a Rwandan investor who is fighting to reclaim a firm is an employee of a vendor company that used to provide a payment platform to him.
Kirimi Koome told the court that Desire Muhinyiza is an employee of Exframe, a vendor company.
Koome further denied claims of defrauding the Rwandan investor of Sh400 million claiming that Muhinyiza was only an independent contractor whom he hired due to his expertise in technical ability to help initiate transactions on the merchant platform.
While giving witness evidence before the High Court Judge Justice Alfred Mabeya, Koome told the court that Muhinyuza was in fact his employee whom he paid either through his bank account in Rwanda or Exframe Rwanda Branch.
According to Koome, Muhinyuza was introduced to him by one Patrick Gakumba, an e-commerce manager in Kigali and a mutual friend.
Koome told the High court commercial Judge that Stay Online Company Ltd was his idea from March 2023 and that he registered it a month later.
He, however couldn’t answer questions placed on him by Muhinyuza’s lawyer on how he initiated payments of his employees including the alleged CEO, Raphael Orwaka.
He was also unable to give clearance on how the company’s services were initiated despite being sent USD 20,000 for service provision by Muhinyuza.
According to Koome, his Email account was hacked by Muhinyuza who started promoting fraudulent activities forcing him to transfer the company’s funds to a client’s account for security.
“As the custodian of the company, it is my task to protect the company and I can bank with whichever bank I can as long as it is a safe place,” said Koome.
The court heard that there was no communication between him and Muhinyuza to register a company on his behalf and that it was his first time hearing such allegations in court.
He also told the court that Stay Online doesn’t have a website which was contrary to the evidence given in court by Muhinyuza on the common websites of all the Stay Online Companies Ltd.
Omwanza Nyamweya, Koome’s Advocate however in his opening statement narrated to the court that his client was taken advantage of by fraudulent actions of Muhinyuza and froze the company’s accounts to stop any further activities.
“My client, the 1st defendant and the interested party has been held hostage by the plaintiff by freezing the account of the company to stop any function of the company from August to date,” he submitted.
