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Mumias in Sh642 million fight with lawyer Ojienda

High Court judge James Makau has dismissed the firm’s application, which sought to stop legal bill calculation proceedings that Ojienda initiated. Ojienda slapped Mumias Sugar with a Sh642 million bill in July last year, but the miller has since disputed the amount claimed.

Ojienda filed his bill of costs before the High Court deputy registrar, who is in the process of analysing the services and their charges before ruling on how much the lawyer should be paid. But Mumias filed an application before Justice Makau claiming that Ojienda’s bill was in bad faith.

The miller said Ojienda and Mohammed Muigai Advocates were assisting another law firm—Hamilton Harrison and Mathews—which was leading its representation team in the arbitration proceedings. It added that Ojienda cannot claim legal bills without consent of the other two law firms, and that it was illegal for him to file a bill of costs before the arbitration proceedings have been completed.

Ojienda in his response said he had stopped representing Mumias and even asked the miller to pick its files from his firm’s office. Mumias did not pick the files, Ojienda said. But Justice Makau has now ruled that Mumias will have recourse if it is unhappy with the deputy registrar’s determination.

“Mumias Sugar has recourse to file a reference to the High Court once all matters in issue are ventilated and the deputy registrar makes her determination. The failure to prove the substantial loss that Mumias stands to suffer, if stay of the bill of costs is not granted, in my view renders this application untenable.”

“I do see any justifiable cause for granting stay of the Bill of Costs pending before the deputy registrar. This court cannot either dismiss a bill of costs as this is a duty of the taxing master to evaluate all the issues before her after considering all the evidence and submissions before her and ensure that she decides the matter in accordance with the provisions of the law,” Justice Makau ruled.

Mumias, which made a Sh6.8 billion loss in the year ending June 2017, says the arbitration proceedings with collapsed Mumias Outgrowers Company are at an advanced stage.

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