The Court of Appeal has allowed pay-TV operator MultiChoice Kenya to recover KES 153 million from former Kandara MP Maina Kamau, bringing to a close a decade-long dispute over unpaid taxes.
The money dates back to 2009, when MultiChoice engaged Mainkam Limited, Mr Kamau’s clearing and forwarding company, to remit taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for imported satellite dishes and decoders.
The imports came at a time when Kenya was preparing for the digital migration. However, the logistics firm allegedly failed to pay the taxes as agreed, leaving the South African-owned broadcaster exposed.
Following a KRA audit that uncovered the non-remittance, MultiChoice filed a lawsuit in 2012. In September 2019, Justice William Tuiyot ordered Mr Kamau and his firm to refund the amount with interest.
The court found that the broadcaster had suffered financial loss directly attributable to Mainkam’s actions.
Unhappy with the High Court’s ruling, Mr Kamau filed an appeal and sought to halt the execution of the judgment. In his affidavit, the former legislator argued that the dictated sum was massive and that enforcing payment before the appeal was heard would render the case meaningless.
He maintained that his appeal raised weighty points of law and facts and warned of irredeemable damage should execution proceed.
The Court of Appeal, however, dismissed his application, noting that MultiChoice is an established international company with the financial ability to refund the money if the appeal later succeeded.
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The bench, comprising Justices Mohammed Warsame, Gatembu Kairu and Jamila Mohammed, emphasized that MultiChoice had been deprived of funds for over a decade, a situation that had exposed its business to losses.
“It is plainly obvious to us that the respondent (Multichoice) has been deprived of the use of their KES 153,457,809 for a considerable period through the acts of the applicants (Mr Kamau and Mainkam), thus exposing their business to incur losses,” the judges stated.
They further described the funds as a significant amount that could have been put to productive use to sustain operations.
The decision paves the way for MultiChoice to recover the long-disputed sum, closing a chapter in one of Kenya’s most high-profile commercial disputes involving a former legislator.
