Companies seek court intervention to unlock Ksh.6B NYS payments

The firms — Highview Trading, Schoolwork Enterprises, Newtool Mart Trading, Ratego Technologies, Realtool Trading, Comptool Trading, Horizon Limited and General Jimchar Enterprise Limited — are jointly asking the court to lift ex-parte orders issued on December 8, 2025 by Justice Lucy Njuguna.

The orders halted any claims or payments relating to Sh6.16 billion pending an inter partes hearing of an application filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

Separately, Tison Limited has lodged its own objection to the EACC case.

The contested orders barred the companies, their agents or representatives from demanding payment of Ksh.6,167,797,655 from NYS and restrained the agency from releasing the funds. 

In their application, the firms are seeking to have the restraining orders set aside and are also asking the court to direct the EACC to release original payment vouchers and Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) with the same serial numbers, which the commission acknowledges are in its custody.

The companies argue that the orders were issued without full disclosure and describe them as excessive. They state that the court was not informed that, following a public call for verification of pending bills incurred between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2022, they had submitted details of 21 LPOs to the Pending Bills Multi-Agency Verification Committee.

According to the applicants, they were unable to submit complete documentation because the EACC has held the original vouchers and LPOs for more than six years since investigations began, and for about two years after the Director of Public Prosecutions advised that the inquiry file be closed.

They contend that the continued retention of their documents, combined with court orders preventing them from seeking payment, violates Article 47(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to fair, lawful and reasonable administrative action. The firms say the situation threatens their right to be paid for goods they claim were supplied to NYS.

The applicants further argue that the EACC’s case is premised on preserving funds that do not exist. They maintain that no money has been released from the Treasury, the payment vouchers remain with the commission, and the verification process by the multi-agency team is yet to be concluded.

“There is no real or imminent danger and no irreparable loss, as no funds have been paid out,” they state in their filings.

The companies also accuse the EACC of abusing the court process by treating allegations as established facts. They fault the commission for using terms such as “falsified”, “fictitious” and “established” in its affidavits despite the absence of a trial, approved charges by the DPP, or any payments made. They add that the DPP had directed the investigation file to be closed.

They further argue that under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, preservation or freezing orders can only apply to existing property or proceeds of corruption, insisting that where no funds have moved, there is nothing capable of being preserved.

The firms say the disputed pending bills were reviewed by the Cabinet-appointed Pending Bills Multi-Agency Team — of which the EACC was a member — under a process guided by an opinion from the Attorney-General and a Cabinet directive. They claim that all payments were approved except for Sh812 million.

Among individuals listed as owners or directors linked to the companies are Benson Gethi Wangu, Elizabeth Wangechi Ngugi, Samwel Mudanyi Wachenje and Bernard Kipkoech Yatich.

Others include Bernard Nzioka Kioko, Julius Nyadimo Airo, John Nganga Gicharu, Titus Trouble Libondo, Isaac Wafula Kundu, Jane Wangechi Gichuki and Chemoss Kororia Ndiema.