A popular joint in Nairobi County is in a crisis, as it stares at possible closure following a debt that has shot to Kshs 5.9 Million.
A Nairobi law firm has moved to the court seeking to declare Mamba Village insolvent for failure to pay legal fees accrued when the eatery instructed the firm to defend it against a case filed by another entity.
The case in question was filed by the National Bank of Kenya against the restaurant for failure to repay a loan that was used to acquire a parcel of land valued at Kshs163.5 million in 2005 when it was purchased.
The eatery had instructed the Kagwimi Kang’ethe & Co Advocates to defend it against the lender in 2018, to which the firm filed a defense to declare that the bank was not entitled to claim against the restaurant due to an alleged breach of contract.
Following the successful defense by the firm, it asked to be paid Kshs2.5 million as instruction fees plus other charges, cumulatively amounting to Kshs7.2 million.
This proved tumultuous after the restaurant was reluctant to settle the legal fees, pushing the firm to seek legal redress.
The law firm stated that it has been constantly making requests to the restaurant's management for payment that have proved futile, claiming that the restaurant has ignored them.
"More than 21 days have lapsed since the petitioner served a statutory demand on the company for payment of the debt on 4th June 2021 but the company has failed to pay the debt or any part of the debt or comply with the statutory demand,” the firm stated in an interview with a local publication.
The firm further affirmed that there has been no application to lift the demand for payment.
The restaurant in retaliation, moved to court to challenge the legal fee arguing that it was exorbitant but the case was thrown out by the High Court.
The advocate is demanding to be paid Kshs 5.9 million plus interest from November 2018 when the case was determined.
The petition will be heard in two weeks time and if allowed, the law firm wants an official receiver appointed to liquidate the restaurant.The notice to declare Mamba Village insolvent has also been published in the Kenya Gazette.
Mamba Village prides itself in being the largest crocodile farm in East Africa, with about 70 reptiles and also offers other activities like camel riding, merry go rounds and horse riding.
