Judge awards restaurant owner Sh19m for illegal eviction

A court has ordered a Nairobi property manager to pay a former tenant Sh19 million for illegal eviction.

Justice Samuel Okong'o found that there was no lawful order for North Lake Ltd to kick out Pampa Grill Ltd from the property in Lavington, Nairobi, in 2018.

Pampa Grill had leased the property in 2012 to set up a restaurant.

Evidence showed that when the eviction happened, there were two conflicting court orders made on the same day - January 15, 2018 -over the same matter.

One order blocking the eviction was issued to Pampa Grill by the Business Rent Tribunal. The other was issued by a magistrate’s court in Nairobi to North Lake Ltd allowing the eviction.

The order from the magistrate’s court was unlawful, null and void because it was issued in the absence of Pampa Grill, and after North Lake got the order it later withdrew its case, Justice Okong'o found.

Security deposit

The court awarded Pampa Grill Sh900,000, the first security deposit paid to North Lake for the lease; Sh1,292,073, a further security deposit; and Sh11,942,455 in compensation for the goods or assets converted, stolen, destroyed and damaged during the eviction.

Pampa Grill will also be paid Sh5 million for general and punitive damages for illegal eviction. It will also be paid costs incurred in the court case that started in 2018.

Pampa Grill director Edwardo Debastiani said his company and North Lake had entered into a lease agreement for five years and three months, starting in September 2012 and terminating in November 2017.

Pampa Grill leased the property to open a restaurant that was operated by Pampa Churrascaria.

The tenants spent Sh37.4 million to repair and renovate the property, money North Lake did not refund.

The building was old and uninhabitable, they said. Through renovations and an extension, they converted the premises to a five-star restaurant.

But in a September 18, 2017 letter, North Lake informed Pampa Grill that it would not renew the lease upon its expiry on November 30, 2017.

Sh1.2 million

However, despite the notice, Pampa Grill paid North Lake Sh430,691 as rent for December 2017 and the payment was accepted.

Pampa Grill paid another Sh1.2 million in January 2018, equivalent to three months’ rent, as a security deposit expecting that the lease would be renewed.

But North Lake had already leased the property to Buena Bizz Ltd, and the latter had paid rent for the premises. North Lake demanded possession of the property.

North Lake later instructed Siuma Auctioneers to evict Pampa Grill from the premises. Pampa Grill said it lost Sh11.9 million from the eviction.

North Lake and Buena Bizz were not represented in the case.

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