Client Accuses Lawyer Waweru Gatonye Of Breaching Agreement After Getting Bribed

President Uhuru’s lawyer senior counsel Waweru Gatonye is entangled in a legal battle where a client, Bia Tosha has filed an application in court accusing the lawyer of breaching their retainer agreement.

Bia Tosha claims that he was induced by East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) to withdraw at the last minute from a suit where a businessman sought the jailing of the brewer’s executives over a multi-billion shilling distributorship deal.

Bia Tosha claims the lawyer intentionally decided to team up with Kenya Breweries in order to protect it from the monopolistic dominance of the Kenyan beer and spirit business.

“The actions apart from amounting to gross professional betrayal to the legal professional and its calling are also a clear breach of the contractual terms of the retainer herein,” read court papers.

The company wants the court to declare the conduct of the lawyer in abandoning their case and retainer as a preservation of justice.

Bia Tosha has accused senior counsel Waweru Gatonye of having been influenced by EABL in 2016 to pull out from the suit five minutes before its hearing in court, causing the case to collapse and grounding its distributorship business.

The firm had hired the lawyer to represent it in a contempt suit where the distributor sought the punishment of EABL executives for being in breach of a High Court order that directed the brewer to allow Bia Tosha to sell beer on 22 routes.

EABL had been locked in a legal fight with its largest supplier, Bia Tosha, over the brewer’s decision to end the latter’s exclusive right to distribute beer on the routes.

Bia Tosha reckons that Mr Gatonye’s reluctance to press with contempt in part led to the collapse of the distributorship business—which at its peak accounted for 12 percent of EABL sales.

“The defendant entered into a corrupt and criminal scheme with Kenya Breweries Limited in typical fashion employed by Kenya Breweries Limited in protecting its monopolistic dominance,” says Bia Tosha in court documents.

“Failure to press on with the contempt proceedings had a direct consequence upon the plaintiff’s entire business which was immediately grounded.”

The Court of Appeal last year overturned a High Court ruling of 2016 that barred EABL from tapping other firms to serve the 22 routes and also ordered the brewer to continue working with Bia Tosha.

Mr Gatonye has denied having been influenced by EABL, arguing that the claims were meant to hurt his reputation and integrity as an advocate of 45-years.

“No evidence is proffered in support of this extremely serious allegation. The standard of proof of the alleged criminal conduct on my part is beyond reasonable doubt and yet the plaintiff has not attempted to attain this high threshold,” Mr Gatonye told the court while pushing for the suit to be dismissed.

Bia Tosha managing director Anne Marie Burugu claims Mr Gatonye, as the firm’s lead lawyer in the case against EABL, was given an advance payment of Sh3 million, which she wants refunded.

She claims that Mr Gatonye dropped out of the case five minutes to the hearing, a move she argues amounts to a “serious case of a criminal conspiracy to defeat and pervert the course of justice.”

The contempt case was be heard on October 10, 2016, at 9 a.m. and Mr Gatonye allegedly informed the Bia Tosha team at 8.55 a.m. that he was pulling out from the suit and immediately left the court premises.

“Without the client files, legal authorities and court brief, the Plaintiff’s counsel on record was totally immobilised and disabled. Unable to prosecute the contempt application, the matter was adjourned,” Ms Burugu says in a sworn affidavit.

However, the lawyer argues that he never abandoned from the case, terming the allegations as false and lacking any facts.

“In any case if the allegations that I abandoned the hearing of  the contempt application or that I detained the documents and materials necessary, Dr. Kiplagat had every opportunity to bring these issues to the attention of the court during mentions of the case,” argues Gatonye.

He says that he duly earned the deposit of Ksh.3 million paid to him upon his engagements, adding that he is entitled to additional fees for the extensive services that he rendered to the plaintiff.

The beer distributor is demanding a refund of Sh3 million as well as damages for the alleged loss.

Land

Gatonye’s seamless career has not gone without negative press capture. In 2017, the tip lawyer was entangled in a land tussle that spanned decades and only came to the surface then.

Lawyer Gatonye and businessman Julius Kariuki Mungai are embroiled in a land tussle that has lasted 20 years and they wanted National Lands Commission to intervene.

March 2017, Gatonye’s home was raided by a group of people who attempted to forcibly bring down the fence, destroying the gate and some structures meant for workers at the lawyer’s compound.

The five-acre land is said to have belonged to Regina Wahu Muigai who lost it to the two after she was unable to repay a bank loan.

Rowdy youths broke into the compound leading to the intervention of the police who arrested two people.

Mr Edward Kiarie, the son of Mr Mungai, said the land along Miotoni Road in Karen belonged to his father who bought it in 1997.

He said the disputed land was originally five acres but was subdivided when his father offset a loan that Ms Muigai had failed to clear from Post Bank.

Mr Kiarie alleged that Mr Gatonye had demolished his father’s house when he bought the remaining four acres at an auction and also failed to leave a public road as stipulated in the original deed.

He accused the lawyer of intimidation after he hired armed guards at the compound.