- Tuju wants a new judge appointed to hear the matter.
- But the bank believes the application is a ploy by Tuju to delay the case.
Image: /FILE
High Court judge Grace Nzioka will on Friday determine whether she will bow out of a case in which CS Raphael Tuju is challenging a decision of a London court that allowed a bank to recover over Sh1.5 billion from his company.
The judge set the date after both parties concluded their submissions.
Tuju wants Nzioka to disqualify herself from the case on grounds that she has been favourable to the East African Development Bank and causing damage to his company, Dari Limited.
Through lawyers Paul Muite and Paul Nyamodi, the CS without portfolio told the court that he believed he would not get a fair hearing due to the manner in which the judge had conducted the matter.
"The informal manner in which the judge has conducted this matter shows she is biased against me and the directors of Dari. This will deny us a fair trial," Tuju said.
He asked the judge to pass the file to the presiding judge of the Commercial Division at the Milimani law courts for assignment of a new judge.
But the bank through lawyer Fred Ojiambo argued that the application for recusal was a ploy to have the main case delayed.
“If Tuju realised that the judge was biased since January this year, he should not have waited until May to file this application. He does not deserve to be heard until he obeys court orders issued before,” Ojiambo said. He dismissed the application as a scheme to drag the matter.
The bank initially filed the case before a London court seeking to compel Dari Ltd to offset the Sh1.5 billion loan. The court subsequently allowed the regional bank to recover the money from Tuju’s real estate company.
Tuju being aggrieved with the decision is currently fighting to have the High Court set aside the ruling made in London.
According to court documents, the loan was meant for the construction of a Sh100 million two-storey bungalow and the purchase of a nine-year-old bungalow built by a Scottish missionary, Dr Albert Patterson. The bungalow currently operates as a high-end restaurant.
Edited by Henry Makori