The High Court in Nairobi has halted proceedings in the insolvency dispute involving logistics firm Multiple Hauliers (EA) Ltd, ruling that a Court of Appeal stay order applies to both the company’s administration and liquidation cases after they were consolidated.
The decision blocks creditors pursuing liquidation over claims arising from a Sh532 million debt owed to asset financier Synergy Industrial Credit, until the appeal is determined.
The company’s broader insolvency dispute pits major secured lenders owed in excess of Sh16 billion –though the Official Receiver’s November 2024 report indicated that the total debts were in excess of Sh31.4 billion, while the total assets of the company were Sh17 billion.
The senior lenders include NCBA Bank Kenya, which has been seeking to recover Sh7.2 billion from the transport company.
Other secured lenders drawn in the commercial tussle include KCB Bank Kenya, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Prime Bank, I&M Bank and Bank of India, alongside Synergy Industrial Credit, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the Official Receiver and other creditors, over the future of the transport company.
Court records indicate that KCB and Co-op Bank were owed Sh8.82 billion as per the official receiver’s Term Sheet dated May 29, 2024 while I&M Bank was owed Sh627.9 million.
The court ruled that the Court of Appeal’s order dated December 19, 2025 staying proceedings in the insolvency case automatically extended to the earlier liquidation petition because the two matters had already been merged into a single proceeding.
“A separation has not been ordered and the order by the Court of Appeal is not a separation.
“This court will take no further action on these proceedings until the pending appeal is determined howsoever,” the judge stated.
The ruling rejected submissions by Synergy Industrial Credit, which argued the liquidation petition should continue independently because it had been filed before the company was placed under administration.
Lawyers for Synergy Industrial Credit urged the court to issue directions on the liquidation proceedings, arguing that creditors continued to suffer as uncertainty surrounding the administration persisted.
The court, however, found the record showed the two cases had been consolidated on January 15, 2021, before the court reaffirmed that consolidation on June 29, 2021.
“The two proceedings were consolidated before the stay of proceedings. Consolidation combines the pending suits into a single proceeding,” the court said, rejecting arguments that the appellate court’s order applied only to the administration case.
“This court will take no further action on these proceedings until the pending appeal is determined howsoever,” the judge ruled.
The litigation stems from efforts by creditors to recover about Sh532 million allegedly owed by Multiple Hauliers, one of established transport and logistics companies.
Synergy Industrial Credit petitioned to liquidate the company in 2020 after alleging it was unable to pay its debts.
The High Court instead granted the company time to pursue restructuring rather than immediate liquidation.
The dispute later shifted after NCBA placed the company under administration in 2021 over the Sh7.2 billion debt it claimed the company had breached repayment obligations. This triggered fresh litigation over the validity of that process and the interaction between administration and liquidation proceedings.
During the latest hearing, lawyers disagreed over whether creditors could continue with the liquidation case despite the appellate stay.
Synergy argued that liquidation and administration were distinct statutory processes that could not be fused, maintaining that the Court of Appeal’s stay affected only the administration proceedings.
Although the court declined to determine the wider insolvency issues, the judge acknowledged concerns raised by creditors over the prolonged dispute.
“I appreciate the arguments that administration and liquidation never mix; and that creditors are suffering because of the complications arising out of the mixture,” said the judge.
The judge said the dispute also raised “a critical question on the role and obligations of an administrative receiver or receiver manager towards the other creditors and the company or is it only to the appointing authority.”
He, however, said those issues “are arguments for the appeal in the Court of Appeal,” leaving the consolidated insolvency proceedings suspended until the appellate court determines the dispute.
