A Rwandan entrepreneur and his Kenyan counterpart are embroiled in a serious legal dispute over the ownership and control of Sh400 million held in two Nairobi banks. The money came from an online business.
To prevent the colossal sum from being squandered, Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi has frozen Stay Online Limited (SOL) accounts at Equity Bank Limited (EBL) and United Bank Africa Limited (UBA) to protect the funds.
Meanwhile, Ochoi has ordered that the case be referred to the Presiding Judge Commercial Division for direction and a determination as to who owns SOL, Kenya.
In the case, Koome Kirimi (Kenyan) claims to be the sole owner of Stay Online Limited, Kenya, but Desire Muhinyuza (the Rwandan) said that Kirimi was chosen as SOL`s agent in Kenya because of the difficulty for a foreigner to register a company name in the country.
Mr Muhinyuza said Mr Kirimi was recommended by Patrick Gakuba as the person who could help SOL register in Kenya.
I was referred to one Koome Kirimi by Patrick Gakuba, the EBL Rwanda e-commerce manager, to assist me in registering Stay Online Limited (Kenya) under his name with 100 per cent (100%) shares in my representation by trust on April 14, 2023, due to my foreign immigration status at the time, Mr Muhinyuza reveals.
The entrepreneur said he contacted Mr Kirimi and instructed him to set up Stay Online Ltd (K) using his credit with a gentleman’s agreement that he would hand it over to him once he regularised his immigration status.
Mr Muhinyuza’s lawyers, Danstan Omari and Aranga Omaiyo, told Justice Ochoi on Monday that their client has since regularised his immigration status but Mr Kirimi has not returned the company to him as agreed.
Instead, the court heard, Mr Kirimi began blackmailing Mr Muhinyuza, threatening to shut down SOL’s operations in Kenya if he did not pay $120,000 into the EBL account at the Meru branch.
As a result of these threats, Mr Muhinyuza initiated the transfer of the funds to Mr Kirimi’s account from SOL’s bank accounts held at Access Bank Rwanda to the UBA account in Kenya.
In June 2023 Koome started sending WhatsApp messages with intentions to embezzle money using different reasons like paying taxes, Justice Ochoi heard.
SOL, the magistrate was told, was registered in Rwanda in 2013.
During a board meeting in Rwanda, it was decided to expand SOL’s business base to Zambia, Kenya and Uganda.
Lawyers Omari and Omaiyo told Justice Ochoi that SOL has also established business links with Canada.
My brother Ndamutsa Thaddee Rusera Sandy, who is the co-director SOL, decided to expand in Eastern Africa and chose Kenya as it is an economic hub in this region, Mr Muhinyuza says in an affidavit filed by his lawyer.
He adds that Mr Sandy received a recommendation from Mr Gakuba, an e-commerce manager at Equity Bank Limited, Rwanda, to liaise with Mr Kirimi for all business transactions in Kenya.
