Nakumatt landlord seeks Sh330m

The owners of the Woolworths Building that was razed after fire broke out at the Nakumatt Downtown outlet four years ago have sued the supermarket for Sh330 million.

Woolworths has sued Nakumatt, its managing director Atul Shah and Kenya Power accusing them of negligence and breach of statutory duty.

Kenya Power is accused of installing and operating the generator in an unsafe area or in close proximity to the building while Nakumatt is blamed for storing inflammable materials close to the generator.

The utility power provider is also being blamed for erroneous connections to electric power lines at the substation that served Woolworths and which the company claims caused electric power to be transmitted to the building on the wrong electrical cable.

Woolworths told Mr Justice Jonathan Havelock that Nakumatt and Kenya Power were liable for the negligence, breach of contract and statutory duty and is urging him to order the supermarket chain to meet the loss and damage it incurred following the inferno.

On Friday, the judge directed the parties to the suit to file and exchange relevant documents they wish to rely on during the trial within 14 days and return to court on July 30 to confirm compliance with the orders.

The court had on November 9 last year ordered Nakumatt to settle the claim, but the firm challenged the ruling and persuaded Justice Havelock to set aside an earlier judgment delivered in favour of Woolworths to allow Nakumatt and Kenya Power to defend the suit.

Woolworths had argued that Nakumatt and Kenya Power had failed to file their defence, list of witnesses and witness statements, despite having been served with the suit papers and convinced the High Court registrar to enter judgment in their favour.

Nakumatt submitted that had the Registrar been aware that its defence had been filed, she would not have entered the default judgment. It pleaded with the court to allow its application.

More than 30 shoppers and workers died in the raging fire that reduced the supermarket store at the junction of Nairobi’s Kenyatta Avenue and Kimathi Street to rubble on January 28, 2009.

Mr Shah was subsequently charged with three counts of failing to keep highly inflammable substances in a fire-resistant store and to provide adequate means of escape to the occupants. He was, however, absolved by the court and let off the hook.

Woolworths had leased the premises to Nakumatt for 20 years with effect from June 1, 1995 to May 31, 2015 for a monthly rent of Sh3.4 million.

The company’s managing director, Mr Chandarakant Patel, now wants the court to order Nakumatt to pay for loss of rent amounting to Sh255 million from February 2009 until expiry of the lease on May 31, 2015.

Woolworths is also seeking compensation for the value of the building amounting to Sh58 million, land rent Sh2.9 million and other costs it claimed to have incurred after the fire.