The Mombasa High Court has issued interim conservatory orders suspending criminal investigations and enforcement action against Power Parts (Kenya) Limited over a dispute involving five Kalmar empty container handlers meant for Mombasa Port.
The orders were issued by Lady Justice Wendy Kagendo Micheni on September 16, 2026, in a case filed by Power Parts against the County Criminal Investigations Officer, Mombasa, the Regional Criminal Investigations Officer, Coast, and other respondents.
The court directed that the application and order be served on the respondents and the Deputy Registrar of the Court by close of business on September 17, after which the respondents were given 10 days to file and serve their responses.
The application is scheduled for hearing on October 5, 2026.
Pending the hearing, the court suspended the operation and enforcement of a complaint made by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) on September 1, 2026, as well as a September 2 decision by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to commence investigations based on the complaint.
The court also suspended the effect of a warrant and order issued by the Mombasa Chief Magistrate’s Court on September 8, 2026, together with decisions or processes arising from the complaint and the disputed orders.
Justice Micheni further restrained the DCI and their officers, servants and agents from arresting, summoning, detaining, charging, arraigning or prosecuting Power Parts, its directors, officers, employees or agents in relation to the complaint or its subject matter.
The court also barred the respondents from disposing of, dealing with, encumbering or otherwise interfering with evidence.
KPA was similarly restrained from initiating, maintaining or supporting a criminal complaint against Power Parts concerning the subject matter of Mombasa High Court Civil Suit No. E041 of 2026, or from deploying material that the court says was obtained pursuant to the disputed magistrate’s court warrant.
In addition, the respondents were ordered to file and serve, within seven days, an affidavit disclosing the whereabouts, custody and condition of two of the machines, serial numbers B11500238 and B11500239.
The court further directed that any material already obtained by the DCI from interested parties under the disputed orders be sealed, preserved intact and deposited with the Deputy Registrar.
Respondents must also disclose on oath the extent of the material obtained and identify every person to whom any part of it has been disclosed.
These orders are interim in nature and will remain subject to further directions when the application comes up for hearing on October 5, 2026.
The saga broke out after the Kenya Ports Authority took action to report Power Parts Kenya to the DCI over claims of fraud involving five Kalmar Empty Container Handlers with serial numbers B11500238, B11500239, B11500240, B11500241 and B11500242 purchased by KPA from Power Parts and Kalmar at a cost of Ksh 195 million.
Kalmar is a known Finnish manufacturer of port equipment, while Power Parts is said to be its agent.
The equipment had been imported to Kenya by Power Parts and was to be delivered to KPA under the contract.
KPA says it got wind that the machines had been diverted to a different port in a neighbouring country, yet Power Parts had already been paid for them.
KPA reported the matter to the police, who commenced investigations.
The DCI in Mombasa summoned directors of the company involved, prompting them to rush to court, where they successfully obtained orders to stop the investigations and prevent their arrest or interrogation.
Police have vowed to fight the matter in court to avoid being gagged over their mandate.
KPA says Power Parts Kenya Limited defrauded it of public money paid out for the supply of the port equipment known as Kalmar Container Handlers, while the supplier allegedly imported the equipment and sold it to another port in a different country in a case of what KPA describes as economic sabotage.
The DCI said it is investigating claims that KPA lost millions of shillings paid to the supplier, which, instead of supplying the equipment to KPA in March 2025, diverted it to a different port out of the country in October 2025.
KPA has separately sued Kalmar and Power Parts to refund the Ksh 195 million paid for the supply and delivery of the equipment in 2025.
Power Parts (Kenya) Limited is owned by Bharat Devidas Jeram Veitha, a Kenyan with 99 ordinary shares, and Vishal Soni, a UK citizen, with one ordinary share.
Insiders say KPA is no longer interested in the heavy machinery, which has already been used, while three other similar machines remain untraceable and the focus is now on recovering the money.
It is said that when the saga became public, it prompted the neighbouring port that purchased the equipment from Power Parts to quickly return them for fear of dealing with property that security agencies were pursuing.
When the equipment returned arrived in Kenya, the DCI impounded them and they are currently lying under tight security at the Port Police Station.
It is believed the same company could be behind recent cases in court over the renewed term of the KPA Managing Director, in an attempt to distract from the exposure made by KPA and the loss of money from the sale of KPA equipment to another port.
We will continue monitoring the story as it unfolds.
