A family whose parents passed away rented a house to M-Gas, a company associated with rogue Telco Safaricom Plc.
The family are now fighting in court to have the Safaricom-partnered M-Gas pay the over Sh1.4 million rent arrears.
The court case number MCCC/E6410/2022 before principal magistrate Hon Edgar Matsigulu Kagoni, was heard today.
The 12-minute arguments between lawyer Owuor for M-Gas and Mbuthia standing in for Harry Karanja & Company Advocates, representing the orphans, were as follows. YEAR 2020: Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa (L), with, M-Gas CEO, Volker Schultz (R). Safaricom renewed the partnership [PHOTO/ COURTESY]The lawyer for the orphans Mr Mbuthia wants M-Gas to pay the undisputed rent for October, November and December 2022 amounting to Sh420k. Then negotiate the payment of the Sh1.4 million.
Magistrate Kagoni allowed this and gave M-Gas 2 days, ending Thursday 22nd December 2022, close of business to pay the Sh420k, failure to which auctioneers should proceed with their rent recovery methods.
The orphans have suffered much in the hands of rogue and non-paying tenant M-Gas and have employed the services of an auctioneer to recover the costs.
Mr Mbuthia also asked that the auctioneer's fees amounting to Sh123k be paid immediately before stay is granted, to which the judge rejected.
Harry Karanja & Company Advocate’s request to have the stay of execution be granted for 30 days pending negotiations of the matter between the parties, was also rejected. Martin Kimani – Managing Director, M-Gas
M-Gas's Lawyer Owuor argued that negotiations collapsed yesterday (19th December 2022) and that M-Gas wished to pay the Sh420k to court. Not directly to the landlord and auctioneers.
Hon Kagoni rejected the offer.
‘If the rent (sh420k) is not disputed, why do you want to pay it in court?’, Hon Kagoni asked lawyer Owuor.
“You don’t come to seek refuge in court when you have not paid rent, the court will not offer refuge”, he added.
The magistrate then insisted that auctioneers should go ahead and attach M-Gas goods to reclaim rent, if payment for the Sh420k is also not honoured.
The case continues and will be heard on January 25th 2023.
Safaricom partnered with M-Gas where the rogue Telco provides the platform that M-Gas runs on.
"M-Gas relies on Safaricom’s M-PESA and NB-IoT network to manage payments and ensure the flow of gas for connected gas cylinders" CAPTION: M-Gas: Powered by Safaricom