A court ordered the removal from office of staff who were
installed by businessman SK Macharia in his bid to take over Directline
Assurance Company Limited.
High Court judge Justice Francis Gikonyo directed police to
remove the officials from the offices.
He added that no one except
the court has the power and authority to interfere with the workings of the
interim directors sanctioned by the court.
The judge said there is an absolute need to remove all such
strangers from the premises and offices of the company.
“Accordingly, the OCS, Central Police Station, Nairobi, is
to remove any person or security guards who are preventing entry into the
premises or offices of the applicant company by the interim directors who were
sanctioned by the court.”
“The order which sanctioned the interim directors be served
upon the OCS too,” the order said.
The court re-emphasised the need for parties to observe
court orders lest they be held in contempt.
Justice Gikonyo also certified the application to be urgent,
saying it appears there is interference with the working of the directors who
were sanctioned by the court to run the affairs of the company.
“That the court is aware of pending applications herein.
But, of great significance is that the court emphasised the need for parties to
obey subsisting court orders.”
“On a prima facie basis, it appears there is real
interference with the working of the interim directors who were sanctioned by
the court to run the affairs of the company,” he said.
The judge warned:
“Take notice that any disobedience or
non-observance of the order of the court served herewith will result in penal
consequences to you and any other person(s) disobeying and not observing the
same.”
This was in connection with an application made in court on
September 24, 2025, by the assurance company directors against Macharia, banks,
and ten others.
Macharia had abruptly moved to take over the management of
the company on Monday despite there being an order barring the move.
He later wrote to various banks to change the signatories of the
accounts.
The assurance board, however, released a statement saying
all is well.
In his memo to the banks, Macharia sought to disclose he is
the majority shareholder at the firm.
“We write to instruct you to cancel ALL the current bank
mandates. The current CR12 is not valid (see attached correspondence from the
AG and BRS, in particular the letter from BRS to purported
shareholders/directors). Once the CR12 is corrected by BRS, we shall give you
fresh instructions as to who are the correct signatories,” he said in the
letter.
He also wrote an internal memo to announce he had appointed
the chief operating officer at the firm, Wilson Wambugu Maina, as the new
acting Principal Officer.
“On behalf of Royal Credit Limited, the Majority Shareholder
of Directline Assurance Company Limited, I hereby appoint you as the acting
Principal Officer of Directline Assurance Company Limited effective 22nd
September 2025 at 9.58 AM. Please note that Mr. Sammy Kanyi has been removed
from the position of Principal Officer of this company.”
“You will be assisted by Ms. Stella Kinoti to act in
totality as Finance Director, assisted by Ms. Elizabeth Kuria. Mr. Christopher
Katiwa will also assist in Sales and Marketing,” the memo of September 22,
2025, said.
Kanyi moved to court on Monday and asked that Macharia be
cited for contempt of court for removing the board of directors and installing
new members in defiance of a court directive.
