A businesswoman has asked a Commercial court to compel her former agent to refund Sh7 million which she claims was illegally taken from her business three years ago.
Ayni Hussein Muhamud has accused her former agent Abdihakim Saidi Jama of duping her in a botched business idea of selling women's clothes.
In her court papers, explains how the Somali National registered the business idea in his own name and failed to account for the profit or losses made in the business when Ayni was away in the United Kingdom.
Ayni, who is also a British national, visited Kenya in 2019 with the intention of starting to sell women's clothes imported from China.
Jama was known to Ayni’s family members and this is how he knew she wanted to open up a business and offered his services as a manager.
Ayni agreed to give him a chance after he convinced her of his experience in the clothing line business.
Jama was to be paid a salary of Sh40,000. Ayni subsequently travelled to China to get stock and sent it to Jama.
At the same time, the processes to register the business commenced.
Ayni says she went back to the United Kingdom. When she was due to travel back to Kenya, she was unable to because of the upsurge of the coronavirus which came with travel bans.
“While I was still in the UK, Jama called me and requested that since he was experiencing some financial hardships, I should allow him to start the business on my behalf,” she says
Ayni says she considered his claims that he has the required knowledge and experience before yielding to his request.
A venue was then identified in Eastleigh. The agreement was that the business was to commence in Ayni's name while she awaits to come back to Kenya.
The shop was opened on June 1 2020 under the name and style of Ayni Fashion Centre.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Ayni had to send in more stock to keep the business flowing. She would at times send money to Jama to enable him to buy more stock within Kenya.
When she finally managed to come back to Kenya in August 2021, she was shocked to find Jamal had registered the business which she solely funded in his own name.
She says she also found out that Jama took her stock of clothes from the shop.
She went to him and asked him to return the stock but Jama instead allegedly physically assaulted her. Jama was charged over that and the assault case is pending at the Makadara Law Courts
He subsequently opened a similar shop same to that of Ayni’s and allegedly used the stock illegally taken from her shop to open the same business.
She now wants him compelled to pay and refund her 15,000 dollars he took from the business and a further Sh5 million which he took from her shop in the form of stock.
But Jamal in response argues that the strict measures placed by the government to help prevent the spread of the virus paralysed the operations of the business and profits.
He argues due to the adverse economic instability caused by the pandemic, no substantive profits were made at the time to even help pay salaries and the alleged money taken was to cater for the unpaid dues.
He says what he agreed to was a partnership as he was knowledgeable in the business.
Jama, a Somali national, was also charged in court in July this year for fraudulently obtaining a Kenyan National Identity Card.
The case has been set for a hearing in February next year.