Mumias Sugar saga: Lawyer Jackline Kimetto makes U-turn, reopens case
The entrance to Mumias Sugar Company.
The woes that have dogged the financially crippled Mumias Sugar Company for several years are far from over after a creditor made a U-turn in withdrawing a Sh76 million case against the miller.
Lawyer Jackline Kimetto will no longer seek to withdraw her claim in the matter, in a move that will affect President William Ruto's bid to fast-track the miller's revival.
Ms Kimetto had on September 1 filed a notice of withdrawal of a liquidation petition against the sugar company.
But on September 2, she changed her mind and is now seeking the court's permission to rescind the withdrawal. In a notice, she is seeking to reinstate her cases in which she is seeking Sh76 million in legal fees from the troubled miller, saying she had received threats to her life to force her to withdraw the two petitions she filed in the High Court to secure her payment.
In a letter to the deputy registrar of the High Court's commercial and tax division, the lawyer says there was intense coercion.
"Please take note that the petitioner herein desires to quash the said notices as they were obtained from her by extreme coercion and threats to her life, citizenship and personal liberty by public servants acting with a view to assist KCB Bank and the receiver of Mumias Sugar Company, PV Ramana Rao and their agents in this suit," the letter reads.
The lawyer has told the High Court that she has been subjected to threats of imprisonment, coercion, threats to her life and extreme psychological pressure to withdraw her petitions filed in court on 20 and 22 March 2019, without any mention of how her legal debt to the sugar miller will be fully settled.
"The petitioner is currently being subjected to violence, threats of imprisonment, coercion, threats to her life and extreme psychological pressure to withdraw her petitions filed in this court on the 20th and 22nd of March 2019 without any mention of how her money orders will be fully settled," the lawyer claims.
Kimetto is now seeking urgent mention of her cases before a duty judge during the current vacation of the High Court judges to resolve the impasse.
When Ms Kimetto issued a notice to withdraw the case, her law firm said it was due to "circumstances beyond their control".
The lawyer had previously expressed concerns about the case. She accused the police of threatening her with arrest if she did not appear for questioning and hand over some documents they requested.
She claimed to have been summoned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and argued that the threats were intended to derail the cases pending before various courts.
The latest twist in the Mumias saga comes barely a week after President Ruto used his infamous 'mambo ni matatu' decree to go after the once-mighty sugar miller's rivals.
During a tour of the Western region, Dr Ruto warned sugar industry heavyweights against exploiting cane farmers through protracted legal battles.
The President claimed that court cases had hampered reforms in the sector.
