Businessman Jimi Wajingi has appealed the decision by a lower court that ordered him to pay a Kenyan luxury men’s clothing store Sh1 million.
Ravello Limited sued him last year for refusing to pay for two jackets and six trousers that they supplied to him on credit.
The clothing store claimed that in 2019 it supplied Wajingi with assorted men’s clothing for his use which included two blazers said to be tailored for royalty and presidents of the world and six assorted trousers.
He allegedly accepted to buy five pairs of trousers and two blazers worth USD 9,675 and he was to return one pair of trousers which was not fitting but he never paid or returned them.
Each of the trousers was going for USD 675 an equivalent of Sh72,000 while the blazers cost USD 2,812 each equivalent to Sh303,000 making it a total of Sh1,038,000.
In his appeal, Wajingi has accused Magistrate D.M Kivuti of bias in how he handled the case filed by the store against him.
“The magistrate erred in law and fact by giving an order which had no legal or factual basis which was devoid of substance or sound analysis backing it,” he said.
Wajingi argues that the magistrate was totally biased in favour of the store during the course of the hearing of the application and he erred in law by deliberately disregarding weighty issues raised by the defendant.
“The court erred in law by basing his orders on inadmissible evidence and unauthenticated documents in the form of Whats App text messages,” he said.
He also claims that the trial magistrate erred in law by failing to hold that the suit before him was an incompetent, frivolous, vexatious and total abuse of the court process.
He wants the high court to set aside the order that directed him to pay over Sh1 million to Ravello Limited.
Ravello’s MD Aziz Faizal alleged that the clothes were supplied on credit due to the cordial business relationship that had existed between them over the years.
The store says after getting the clothes, Wajingi would later turn around and engage them in a back and forth using Whats App text messages by claiming to be on visits abroad and sometimes seeking indulgence for allegedly being out of his office.
“The plaintiff further avers that subsequently, Wanjigi became evasive, failed to pick up telephone calls from them but instead increasingly gave them unfulfilled promised through Whats App that he could settle the account sums herein on time which promises he has failed and refused to fulfil to date,” reads court papers.
In his defense that was struck out, Wajingi denied the allegations arguing that the store had no legal capacity to sue him since it has failed to disclose its true legal status to sue him.
Wajingi also told the court that alleged Whats App messages never took place and the same were false and fabricated claiming the allegations have no legal factual basis.
“The defendant avers that he does not owe the store the alleged USD 10,35o or any money at all and the alleged claim has no legal or factual bias and the same is baseless, frivolous, mischievous and meant to extort money from him,” Wanjigi argued.
Kivuti struck out Wajingi’s defense ruling that it failed to disclose any reasonable defense in law and for being scandalous, frivolous and vexatious and therefore amounting to an abuse of the court process.
