New revelations have emerged indicating that controversial businessman Jacob Juma was killed on the same day he filed an affidavit in a case pitting him against the Kenyan Government.
The slain businessman had reportedly sued the State for Sh2 Trillion at an International Court after the government cancelled his licence to Mrima Hill, an area in Kwale County said to be rich in rare earth minerals.
According to records obtained from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, DC, the hearing of Juma's case was slated for May 6 but, by then, he had already been killed.
Prior to his sudden death, Juma had supposedly organised a press conference to report on the progress of the case, the Nation reports.
The court battle between Juma and the Government dates back to November 30, 2007, when the former commissioner of mines LK Biwott opened up the protected Mrima Hill in Kwale to Cortec and gave the company exclusive rights to prospect for minerals.
Cortec company was then awarded a mining licence on March 26, the same day the Supreme Court began hearing the presidential election petition filed by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga against President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In March 2014, the then Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala is alleged to have cancelled the licence after Cortec declared that the minerals at Mrima Hill were worth Sh61 Trillion.
Juma claimed that Balala asked him for a bribe so as not to cancel the licences to Cortec Mining, an allegation that Mr Balala denied.
The company then moved to the High Court to seek compensation and lost the case, prompting Juma and his associates to move to the ICSID and the Court of Appeal.
Mr Juma owned a 30 per cent stake in Cortec Mining Kenya while Pacific Wildcat Resources, a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, owned the remainder through Stirling Ltd and Cortec Pty Ltd, which are based in the UK.
Even so, it remains unclear whether the Sh2 Trillion case led to the murder of the businessman whose life has since emerged to be one that was surrounded by a cloud of mystery.
