The High Court will on October 22 hear a petition by Naipa Supermarkets seeking to block the restructuring or privatisation of New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (New-KCC) until an ongoing arbitration dispute is deter-mined.
The court directed Naipa to serve New-KCC with its application by October 14, giving the dairy company seven days to respond.
The supermarket wants orders stopping New-KCC from selling, transferring, leasing or disposing of assets, in-cluding processing plants, machinery, vehicles and equipment.
Naipa is also seeking an order compelling the dairy company to secure its Sh420 million claim within 14 days, either through a bank guarantee or a cash deposit into an interest-earning joint escrow account held by the par-ties’ advocates.
The dispute stems from the distribution of New-KCC products in Kapenguria, Lodwar and areas bordering South Sudan. The matter was referred to arbitration.
Naipa further wants New-KCC, its bankers and agents barred from withdrawing, transferring or otherwise deal-ing with funds in the company’s bank accounts until the dispute is resolved and any arbitral award enforced.
The supermarket says the application follows directives issued by President William Ruto during the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit held between October 7 and 9, calling for New-KCC’s immediate restructuring and privatisation.
The proposals include settling about Sh8 billion in outstanding debts and liabilities through the forthcoming Supplementary Budget, modernising processing plants and machinery, and requiring payments to dairy farmers every two weeks.
Naipa argues that the planned changes could lead to the disposal or transfer of assets before arbitration con-cludes, undermining its ability to recover any money awarded.
