One of the creditors in the Mumias Sugar lease case now wants the court to order Kenya Commercial Bank chief executive Joshua Oigara summoned for cross-examination.
Vartox Resources Inc wants both Oigara and the administrator Ponangipali Rao to be cross-examined on the affidavits they have filed in court relating to the current impasse on who should run the sugar mill.
In court submissions on Monday, Lawyer Abbas Esmail told Justice Alfred Mabeya that Vartox needs to question the two on various inconsistencies and to bring them to account for their roles as administrator and receiver of Mumias.
“Joshua Oigara, KCB Chief Executive Officer be ordered to attend court for cross-examination and for purposes of producing all documents including e-mails, letters and all correspondence exchanged with the 1st respondent Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao,” read court papers.
Esmail further accused Rao of running Mumias as a personal property alleging his conduct is conduct is aimed at disenfranchising Mumias creditors and other stakeholders.
“Rao has operated Mumias’ assets as though Mumias is his personal property. Apart from operating the Ethanol plant when he had no mandate to because KCB’s security did not extend to the Ethanol plant, he has refused to account for any of the proceeds from the operation of the Ethanol plant,” says Vartox .
Vartox also accused Rao of allegedly borrowing money through an overdraft from KCB to the tune of KES 216 million in unclear circumstances, further compounding Mumias’ woes and increasing its debt portfolio.
“For this reason, Rao needs to be cross-examined to explain in detail these borrowings, what he has used and is using such money for and how they impact Mumias’ balance sheet as well as when Vartox outstanding debt will be cleared based on the current lease to the lowest bidder," said the firm.
Esmaili said it was in the interests of justice and to arrive at the truth, the court should order both Rao and Oigara to be cross-examined on the several affidavits that he (Rao) has filed.
He argued that it is imperative to cross-examine especially Rao as the administrator to aid the court in understanding and appreciating the several contested issues of fact as well as unmasking his unlawful, prejudicial and contemptuous conduct.
Vartox also wants the court to order Rao to produce the valuation reports and all supporting documents used in the lease.
However, Lawyer Kimani Kiragu opposed the application saying Vartox is not entitled to ask the court to cross-examine Oigara since he has not filed any affidavit in the matter.
He also told the court that Vartox must first prove that they are creditors before making any applications.
“My Lord there is no truth in the allegations by my colleague” Kiragu said.
He urged the court to reject the application by Vartox and allow parties to proceed with the case in court.
In a second application that was also heard by court on the same issue, Vartox wants Rao to be removed as the administrator.
Esmail told court that they have proposed two names of people who will replace Rao as the administrator.
