A magistrate has ordered Lamu West MP Stanley Muthama to deposit Sh3 million in court as security to prevent his arrest over alleged failure to pay a Nairobi businesswoman Sh7.1 million debt.
Principal Magistrate Hosea Ng’ang’a, sitting at Milimani Law Courts Nairobi, directed that if the MP fails to deposit the money, a warrant of arrest would be issued against him.
The contested debt arose from the alleged purchase of a motor vehicle by Mr Muthama from businesswoman Yvonne Njoki Njiru, trading as Newday Motors Limited, in 2016.
Ms Njiru wants Mr Muthama and his company Stansha Limited forced to pay the debt. The magistrate ordered the MP to deposit the money following an application by Ms Njiru for issuance of a warrant of arrest.
The case is scheduled to be mentioned on June 10, 2025 for further directions.
She returned to court last week after seeking enforcement of a decree issued by the court in her favour on April 23, 2025 requiring Mr Muthama to pay the debt.
However, Mr Muthama in his filings at the High Court has denied the debt and says it was wrong for the trial court to condemn him to pay a liability accrued by the company, Stansha Limited, even though he was the director.
“I have been condemned and found liable for debts that are not mine but of the company without any justifiable reason and as such puts me and my property at risk of execution. I stand to suffer substantial loss,” says Mr Muthama in his court papers against the businesswoman’s move to recover the money.
The court documents show that the initial debt was Sh3.5 million incurred on June 23, 2016 through sale of the motor vehicle, make Isuzu, to Stansha Limited. The amount has accrued interest of Sh3.6 million over time, totaling to Sh7.1 million.
In her claim in court Ms Njiru alleged fraud. She stated that Mr Muthama never honoured a promise to pay despite numerous pledges including in February 2023, when she bumped into him at an eatery in Nairobi but failed to pay.
She added that in their various conversations, the MP acknowledged the debt and had promised to pay Sh1 million by December 2023.
“When it became apparent that he had no intention to pay for the vehicle, the Plaintiffs reported the incident at Industrial Area Police Station and was recorded as OB No.52/19/10/2023 at 15.20hours and the same is pending investigation, arrest and prosecution of Mr Muthama,” her lawyer Robinson Kigen says in the documents. He is in the process of executing the court decree.
He said it was Mr Muthama who took possession of the vehicle and when asked by Ms Njiru via Whatsapp where it was, he said it was at Mombasa.
Particulars of the alleged fraud include using the motor vehicle for his benefit and failing to pay the purchase price.
The decree was issued after the court struck out Mr Muthama’s defence saying he had admitted the claim. The trial magistrate added that it was not denied that the MP and Stansha Limited had taken possession of the vehicle.
“A casual perusal of the defence dated May 7,2024 reveals that the defendant has indeed admitted entering into a sale agreement to purchase the suit vehicle at Sh3.5 million and was to pay a deposit of Sh500,000. While the defendant argues that it paid the deposit it has not produced any evidence of payment,” said principal magistrate Ng’ang’a.
The magistrate noted that if Mr Muthama wanted the court to believe he was not part of the sale agreement, he would not have made any commitment to pay Ms Njiru at all.
Concerning the defendants’ argument that Ms Njiru was in possession of the vehicle’s logbook, the court said that Ms Njiru and her company were not expected to release the same before being paid.
