•Nyadida, 22, informed the court bank charged him with attempting to defraud them of Sh 10 million
•He was acquitted on October 3, 2017 since the prosecution had not proved its case
Image: FILE
A man has sued Equity Bank for using his song in the ‘Wings to Fly’ advertisement since 2013 without paying him.
Erick Nyadida, 22, informed the court yesterday that he has not received a cent from the bank for six years.
For constantly asking for his money, the bank charged him with attempting to defraud them of Sh 10 million, Nyadida said.
“I was 16 years when the bank told my brother and I through a letter that we had committed a criminal offence and we were to take statements the next day at Equity Centre,” Nyadida said.
On going to write statements, Nyadida said a security guard, Joachim Ithumbi, refused to take his statement and said "the bank does not want anything to do with that matter and we are ready to do anything to defend ourselves."
Later,Nyadida and his brother were taken to the Banking Fraud Unit at the Central Bank and finally detained at the Kileleshwa police station.
The next day, he was charged with his brother at a Milimani court with fraud, where they both pleaded not guilty.
In an affidavit filed in court, Nyadida said at that point he was not afforded the right to legal representation and it was a breach to his constitutional rights.
Nyadida had to change schools and even repeat an exam as he spent a lot of time in court for an offence he did not commit, he said.
“The case took three years in court and I was acquitted on October 3, 2017 since the prosecution had not provided enough evidence for the offence,” Nyadida said.
Nyadida composed the song ‘Wings to Fly’ while still a minor and studying at Maranda High School and later recorded it at Homeboyz studios.
The song was composed after Nyadida with the help of his manager John Kennedy got him an opportunity to create an original piece of music to be used by Equity Bank for their Wings to Fly project.
“I severally wrote letters to Dr James Mwangi and other people at the bank in which I got responses but at some point, they asked me to reduce the cash from Sh10 million to Sh 2.5 million but I refused,” Nyadida said.
The court also heard that the bank sought to replace the pending arrears with a scholarship but Nyadida also turned the offer down.
Nyadida appeared before Justice Wilfrida Okwani where he sought justice for a song that has been used since 2013.