The Mumias sugar takeover by Sarrai Group, a Ugandan based company has taken a twist after a high court in Kakamega reversed orders it had issued for the firm to continue operations in Mumias Sugar
On Tuesday Kakamega county had moved to court and obtained the order, stopping KCB appointed receiver-manager PVR Rao and Tumaz & Tumaz Enterprises, which has contested the 20-year-lease, from interfering with operations of Sarrai Group.
However , a day after issuing the directive, Justice William Musyoka lifted the order after it emerged that it conflicted with another order another court issued in December.
While lifting the order, the judge said he was not informed of the December 29 order, which suspended the leasing process. The Judge said he ‘vacated’ the order, to avoid the scenario of conflicting orders.
“That, the order of 29/12/2021 should have been disclosed by the applicant (county government) since it cannot possibly be in operation at the same time with the order that I made herein on 11/1/2022,” said Justice Musyoka.
Sarrai won the lease after placing the third-highest bid of Sh11.5 billion in the mumias sugar lease battle, while Tumaz & Tumaz placed the highest with Sh27.6 billion. Tumaz & Tumaz, through lawyer Javier Munzala, later moved to court arguing that Mr Rao failed to give all the bidders an open and transparent opportunity, compromising the integrity, fairness and accountability of the process.
Nonetheless, Sarrai proceeded with the operations at the miller, prompting Tumaz to file contempt proceedings against Mr Rao and the owners of the Ugandan firm.
