NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 24 – The Court of Appeal has dismissed Stanbic Bank’s request to suspend a High Court ruling, rejecting the bank’s attempt to have Judge Nixon Sifuna recused from the case over an alleged breach of banking regulations.
In its ruling, the Appellate Court acknowledged that the bank had raised several concerns regarding the judge’s handling of the case, including alleged misapplication of legal principles on recusal, a review of a previous ruling, and misrepresentation of facts.
“We have reviewed the grounds of appeal and the draft memorandum and note that the applicant has raised several allegations touching on the exercise of judicial function by the learned trial Judge. In our view, these are issues that warrant the Court’s jurisdiction of appeal to review and assess the impugned ruling before affirming or setting it aside,” the ruling stated.
The judges concluded that the intended appeal is arguable, signaling that the case may proceed for further review.
This follows Air Afrik suing Stanbic in 2018 over an alleged breach of banking regulations after crediting $7.2 million into its accounts before the funds were frozen and later reversed, without a valid court order or a directive from the Central Bank of Kenya.
The airline is seeking to be paid damages for losses suffered after a plane leasing contract of $20 million with the South Sudan government was terminated after the funds were withheld.
According to the airline, the money had been deposited for a plane-leasing contract it signed with the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs of South Sudan in September 2014.
