The court’s recent decision by Justice Josephine Mongare of Machakos High Court  is a dramatic reversal of fortune for the high-profile deal after four consecutive failed attempts to halt it in Nairobi courts this year.

Justice Mongare issued the interim orders restraining the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK), Diageo Kenya Limited, and three other respondents  stopping any steps toward completing the transaction pending the hearing of a petition filed by Christine Irungu.

“In the interim and pending the inter partes hearing and determination of this Application, a conservatory order is hereby issued restraining the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents, whether by themselves, their directors, officers, agents, servants, employees, subsidiaries, affiliates or any person acting on their behalf, from completing, implementing, registering, approving, transferring, disposing of or otherwise giving effect to the sale and/or transfer of Diageo’s controlling interest in East African Breweries PLC to Asahi Group Holdings Limited,” Justice Mongare ordered

Justice Mongare further ordered that the current ownership structure at EABL remain unchanged until the case is heard.

“A conservatory order is hereby issued preserving the ownership, control and shareholding status quo in East African Breweries PLC as regards the CAK and Diageo Kenya Limited controlling interest therein,” She ordered.

Judge Mongare further certified as urgent a petition filed by Irungu and directed that the application be served upon the respondents within seven days and fixed the matter for mention on July 2, 2026.

The recent orders come barely hours after the High Court in Nairobi dismissed a separate attempt by JILK Construction Company to stop the same transaction.

In that case, Justice Gregory Mutai of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division rejected JILK Construction’s application for conservatory orders, finding that the company’s grievances arising from a terminated 2017 Kisumu brewery construction contract had no connection to the proposed share sale.

“I share the same view as my brother Judge Bahati Mwamuye in the Bia Tosha matter, that no nexus has been shown between the impugned transaction and the petition now before the court,” Justice Mutai ruled.

JILK had argued that the acquisition should be suspended pending a human rights audit under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

However, the court held that the principles did not have binding legal force capable of stopping the transaction.

Justice Mutai further held that public interest favored completion of the deal.

“In my view, public interest favors the conclusion of the transaction, as the transaction shall have a significant public finance impact,” the judge said, noting that the transaction could generate approximately Sh42 billion in Capital Gains Tax revenue.

The JILK case was one of several legal challenges mounted against the proposed acquisition this year.

Earlier, Bia Tosha Distributors, a former EABL distributor locked in a decade-old distribution rights dispute, had three injunction bids thrown out, the last as recently as June 2, when Justice Mutai dismissed its application, ruling that had elected to pursue relief at the Court of Appeal and could not return to the High Court to seek similar orders.

The transaction had been awaiting final approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya after reportedly receiving clearance from regulators in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority.

The transaction, valued at approximately $2.3 billion (Sh340 billion), would see Asahi acquire Diageo’s 65 per cent controlling stake in the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed brewer.

The deal, announced in December 2025, had been awaiting final approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya after reportedly receiving clearance from regulators in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority.

The deal is expected to generate approximately Sh42 billion in capital gains tax for the Exchequer, making it one of Kenya Revenue Authority’s biggest single-transaction windfalls.

EABL had repeatedly told investors that completion was expected in the second half of 2026.

At the time of going to press, CAK, EABL and Diageo had not filed responses or issued public statements on the Machakos order.

The post Machakos Court Temporarily Halts Sh340 Billion EABL Share Sale appeared first on Insider Bits News.

In a brief ruling delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Court of Appeal President Daniel Musinga, Justice Mumbi Ngugi, and Justice George Odunga granted an interim stay of execution of the High Court’s December 18, 2025 judgment in Petition filed by a city lawyer.

The interim order, effective immediately, allows the JSC to resume considering and processing complaints against judges pending the delivery of a detailed ruling on January 23, 2026.

“Pending delivery of this Court’s ruling on January 23 2026, we grant an interim order of stay and suspension of the declaration and orders by the High Court in Petition No. E110 of 2025 stopping the Judicial Service Commission from considering and processing complaints against judges,” Justice Musinga led bench ruled.

The application was filed by the Judicial Service Commission seeking to overturn the High Court’s problematic judgment that had effectively paralyzed its constitutional mandate to ensure judicial accountability.

The Law Society of Kenya, appearing as an interested party through Senior Counsels Philip Murgor and  Ahmednasir Abdullahi  made compelling arguments urging the Court to stay execution of the High Court judgment.

Ahmednasir argued that the High Court’s ruling effectively paralyzed the Commission, preventing it from fulfilling its constitutional mandate to ensure judicial accountability.

He stressed that the Commission’s procedures are lawful, necessary, and do not infringe on judicial independence.

The original petition was filed on March 4, 2025, by Kennedy Echesa Lubengu, an advocate representing a judge facing a complaint before the JSC.

Echesa had challenged the legality of the JSC’s processes for handling complaints against judges, particularly the continued use of internal procedures in the absence of enacted and gazetted regulations as required under Section 47 of the Judicial Service Act.

The three-judge High Court bench of Justices Roselyne Aburili, John. Chigiti, and Alexander Muteti ruled in favor of Echesa, declaring that the JSC could not proceed with complaints against judges without proper regulations in place.

“Until the Judicial Service Commission enacts and gazettes regulations under Section 47 of the Judicial Service Act, it cannot hear or process complaints against judges, as doing so would violate the principles of natural justice and fair administrative action,” ruled Justices Aburili, Chigiti, and Muteti.

The judgment effectively brought all ongoing disciplinary proceedings against judicial officers to a halt.

The petition arose from a complaint filed by Aldrin Ojiambo trading as Acorn Law Advocates LLP against Lady Justice Dorah Chepkwony over alleged delay in delivering a bail application ruling in a criminal trial and the alleged loss of a criminal trial file.

Echesa had argued that the JSC’s handling of complaints violated constitutional guarantees of fair administrative action under Article 47 of the Constitution and compromised judges’ security of tenure.

The Law Society of Kenya welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision, noting that it restores the JSC’s ability to fulfill its constitutional mandate.

“With the issuance of the Stay of Execution, the JSC can now fulfill its constitutional mandate to guarantee judicial accountability, and it is our expectation that they will discharge this duty,” the LSK president  stated.

The interim stay means the JSC can now resume processing all pending complaints against judges and magistrates across the country, a move likely to be welcomed by complainants but potentially concerning to judicial officers who had hoped for clearer procedural guidelines.

The post Court of Appeal Temporarily Restores JSC Mandate to Hear Complaints Against Judges appeared first on Insider Bits News.