A company, which was owned by the late businessman Jacob Juma, was on Tuesday ordered to pay the state Ksh326 million.
Cortec Mining Kenya Limited had sued the state demanding Ksh100 billion in damages after the then Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala revoked its license for a mining job in Kwale County.
In the ruling by a tribunal at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the state was awarded the money in order to solve the conflict over the revocation back in 2013.
The state had been sued by Cortec Mining alongside another company identified as Stirling Capital Limited.
The ICSID dismissed the charges from the claimants stating that there was no credibility to the claims brought henceforth.
The tribunal, however, denied the state all the amount (Sh652 million) awarding them half the price because they had overstated the figure.
In February this year, ICSID published information of some global mining firms that had sued the government over cancellation of their mining licenses.
Apart from Cortec, other companies that had lost licenses included WalAm Energy Incorporated (demanding Ksh61.8 billion), Sirmonet Mineral Kenya, Balham Trading Company, Ololunga Mining, Yongtai Mining Company among others.
The Government explained that Cortec’s permit had been revoked because it was issued against regulations that barred mining of minerals in a gazetted forest.
Jacob Juma was shot and died in May 2016.
