Kericho founder Tabitha Karanja/HANDOUTKeroche Breweries Limited has asked the High Court in Nakuru to award it Sh10 billion in damages and to halt a liquidation petition filed by its former employee, Sam Krus Shollei, arguing the move has harmed its reputation and threatened its operations.
The Naivasha-based brewer filed an urgent application under the Insolvency Act, through lawyer Karuku Wachira, seeking temporary and permanent injunctions against further advertisement of the petition.
The application is also asking the court to declare the statutory demand and petition invalid, and a public apology “in the same manner and prominence as the notice was published.”
In court papers, the company says it is a major employer in Kenya’s brewing sector with hundreds of direct employees and thousands in its supply chain.
It argues that any insolvency threat could have wider economic effects.
“That the Respondent/Applicant is a major employer in Kenya's brewing sector, with over 500 direct employees and thousands in its supply chain, contributing billions in taxes and exports, making any insolvency threat a potential economic disaster warranting urgent judicial intervention,” the court documents read.
The petition further states that the advertisement, “based on an illegal Statutory Demand, exacerbates reputational harm by falsely signalling insolvency, which is not right and must be halted to prevent further catastrophe.”
The petition at the centre of the dispute was filed on May 23, 2025, by Shollei, over a 2017 contract.
The petitioner obtained a judgment in the Employment and Labour Relations Court alleging wrongful dismissal, with about Sh45 million said to remain outstanding.
He seeks liquidation orders against Keroche.
Keroche maintains the debt is disputed and under appeal at the Court of Appeal.
It also challenges the statutory demand dated June 30, 2025, which it says was signed by the Deputy Registrar rather than by the creditor or an authorised agent.
“A statutory demand must be dated and be signed by the creditor himself or by a person authorised to make the demand on the creditor’s behalf,” Keroche’s supporting affidavit states, citing section 384(1)(a) of the Act.
The company argues that this defect makes the entire petition invalid and that Regulation 77B of the Insolvency (Amendment) Regulations, 2018, does not require pre-hearing advertisement of liquidation petitions.
It says the Kenya Gazette notice of August 21, 2025, has already prompted questions from suppliers and financiers and has led to “irreparable commercial damage, including loss of supplier confidence, credit facilities, and market share.”
Shollei’s petition remains pending before the High Court.
He is seeking payment of the Employment Court award through liquidation proceedings, arguing Keroche has not settled the decree.
