High Court Takes on KBL–JILK Case After Disputed Amount Soars

The case pitting Kenya Breweries Limited against an arbitrator and a construction company it says conspired to extort from it, will now be heard in open court on March 23.

Justice Francis Gikonyo directed all parties in the case to file their replies within three days after receiving the applications. KBL and its executives who have been enjoined as interested parties will also have seven days to file their affidavits and another seven days for other parties to reply.

The root of the case is that the arbitrator, Mutinda Mutuku, and the construction company, JILK Construction Limited through its Managing Director, Pastor Engineer Sammy Maina Kamau, conspired to inflate the disputed amount from KSh163 million to KSh2.4 billion.

JILK Construction Ltd did some work at the Kisumu Brewery, which was reopened in 2019, and was paid KSh1.2 billion, but there was dispute about the final payment. The company had invoiced for KSh163 million. KBL says after it agreed for the disputed amount to be decided by an arbitrator, Mutuku and JILK conspired to inflate the amount in question.

Mutuku and Pastor Engineer Kamau are alleged to have conspired to hide their previous relationship and to have exchanged money before and during the arbitration with KBL over a disputed amount for work done at Kisumu Brewery.

KBL secured orders to stop the final decision of the arbitration after establishing a series of issues that it said resulted in the amount in dispute growing from KSh163 million to KSh2.4 billion. It says that Mutuku, a quantity surveyor by profession, was charging both JILK and KBL rather than splitting his fee between the two of them.

The Architectural Association of Kenya has been sued for their failure to act professionally in appointing Mutuku as the arbitrator and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for failing to investigate and prosecute the misdeeds.

Justice Gikonyo emphasized that the primary objective is to expedite the case  and to ensure that the arbitration award can be finalized without further delay, and that no party causes unnecessary obstruction. Being heard in open court means that the lawyers will be in court rather than online, which has become the norm nowadays.

JILK is represented by Nelson Havi and Kibe Mungai while KBL is represented by Senior Counsel Kamau Karori.

On their part, JILK claims that their employees were harassed by a contractor and have sought to enjoin EABL executives in the matter.

JILK has also filed another case seeking to stop the transfer of shareholding from Diageo PLC to Asahi Group Holdings until the current issues are sorted.