Friday September 27, 2024
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The Somali Embassy was the subject of a legal dispute over unpaid renovation work. A Kenyan court recently ordered the release of $201,942 from embassy accounts to a Kenyan construction firm, Kingsly Construction Limited, following a breach of contract in 2016.
NAIROBI, Kenya (HOL) — A Kenyan court has ordered Premier Bank to release KSh 26 million ($201,942) from Somali Embassy accounts to Kingsly Construction Limited, concluding a three-year legal battle over unpaid renovation work at the embassy's Nairobi compound. The court rejected Somalia's claim of diplomatic immunity.
The dispute dates back to 2016 when the Somali Embassy hired Kingsly Construction to renovate its Kilimani premises. After a series of delays and non-payments, the construction firm sued the Somali government in 2019, seeking payment for KSh 53.6 million ($369,438) worth of work. According to court filings, the embassy had ceased payments and blocked the company's access to the site, leaving Kingsly Construction with unpaid balances.
In its defence, Somalia argued that funds in its embassy accounts were protected by diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). Ambassador Jabril Abdulle stated that the funds, generated through passport and visa application fees, were diplomatic in nature and immune from seizure.
However, Justice Alfred Mabeya of the High Court ruled that diplomatic immunity does not extend to commercial contracts. "Sovereign immunity cannot shield a state from its obligations in a purely commercial agreement," he stated, ordering the release of the KSh 26 million from the frozen accounts to Kingsly Construction.
According to multiple sources, the embassy renovation project was initially funded by a $100,000 contribution from the Somali business community in Kenya. Kingsly Construction invested an additional $300,000 to complete the work. The project received high-level attention, with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and senior officials visiting the site in 2016. However, after Somalia's 2016 elections, payments abruptly stopped, and work was halted.
Kingsly Construction, in an attempt to recover the unpaid debt, previously sought to auction embassy property after the Somali government ignored multiple legal summons. Although an out-of-court settlement was briefly reached, it fell apart when the embassy failed to meet its payment commitments. Adding to the dispute, Kingsly discovered that the embassy intended to assign the remaining 20% of the renovation project to another contractor, using materials Kingsly had already provided.
The construction dispute also exposed internal rifts within Somalia's diplomatic community. Former Somali Ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Ahmed Noor Tarsan, publicly questioned whether Kingsly Construction had completed any meaningful work on the embassy.
Tarsan further alleged that a separate budget of $320,000—raised by Kenya's Somali business community and former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire's government—was later used to complete the project. His accusations were swiftly denied by Fathudin Ali Mohamed, the current Somali Ambassador to Turkey, who called Tarsan's claims defamatory and vowed to take legal action.
The ruling concludes a lengthy legal battle. Kingsly Construction is set to receive the KSh 26 million ($201,942) owed for its work on the embassy.
"The ruling reaffirms that diplomatic immunity cannot be exploited to avoid commercial obligations," said Kingsly Construction's lawyer, Charles Madowo. "Our client has waited a long time for this outcome, and justice has been served."