Wajir ex-Governor Mohamed Mohamoud declared bankrupt over Sh7.6m debt
Former Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamud and His wife Kheira Maalim Mohamud were declared bankrupt.
Former Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamoud has been declared bankrupt by the High Court after he failed to pay a debt of Sh7,621,724.91 to a construction company that supplied him with building materials.
Justice David Manjanja of the High Court in Nairobi declared Mr Abdi and his wife Kheira Maalim Mohamud bankrupt on July 21 this year after the company - Autosteel and Tiles Limited - filed a bankruptcy petition.
The company had supplied building materials to the governor for the construction of his business premises - the Sunrise Shopping Mall in Eastleigh.
The company later took the couple to court in 2010 after they failed to pay.
The two had been ordered to pay the company Sh4.1 million on January 17, 2020, by High Court judge Justice Francis Tuiyott, but they failed to comply and the debt grew to Sh10.6 million due to interest and costs of the court case.
The former governor had entered into an unregulated voluntary agreement with the firm to pay Sh3 million on March 10 last year, another Sh1 million before March 25 and the balance of Sh4 million before May 20 last year.
Outstanding balance
However, the governor only paid Sh985,000 on April 28 last year and an additional Sh2 million on May 20 last year and failed to make any payment thereafter, prompting the firm to file for insolvency over the outstanding balance of Sh7.6 million.
The company, through Oluoch Olunya Law Firm, petitioned the court to declare Mr Abdi and his wife bankrupt so that their assets could be placed under receivership to enable the company to recover the debt. Justice Majanja granted the orders.
The judge noted that the amount in question had not been paid since January 2020, despite several promises of payment.
"A judgment debt is an unconditional demand for payment. There is no reason why a bankruptcy order should not be made as the judgment debt has not been paid, is uncontested and has been outstanding since 2020 when the judgment was issued against the debtor (Mr Abdi and his wife). This is clear evidence of the debtors' inability to pay," he said in the ruling.
