HEMAL KOTECHA ORDERED TO PAY SH221 MILLION IN KWALE SUGAR DISPUTE

Controversial businessman Hemal Kotecha has been ordered by the Court of Appeal to pay Sh221 million in a dispute involving Kwale Sugar Company.

In its ruling, the appellate court found that the High Court had not erred in its earlier decision. The three-judge bench noted that Kotecha’s firm had been properly served with court documents and dismissed the businessman’s objections as centered more on the scale of the claim than on its substance.

Kotecha had appealed a High Court ruling that required him to settle the Sh221 million debt. Through his lawyer, Senior Counsel Tom Ojienda, Kotecha argued that the judge had failed to consider that he could not have committed to the payment without approval from the company’s board. He also contended that his firm had not been given an adequate opportunity to defend itself.

His legal team further claimed that Justice Cherere erred by upholding the position that the company had agreed to pay the amount in question, as presented by the claimant, Amalo Company.

The Court of Appeal ruling was delivered by Justices Hannah Okwengu, Helen Omondi, and Joel Ngugi.