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Mombasa trader jailed over Sh230,000 debt

Timothy Mwaniki
By BRIAN OCHARO
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A Mombasa businessman Timothy Mwaniki has been jailed for a month over Sh230,943 debt.
Mr Mwaniki, the Time Tours and Car Hire company CEO, was on Wednesday jailed after failing to pay Ms Beryl Marindah the money after using her car in his business.
In a sworn affidavit, the trader had committed to remit the money to Ms Marindah in three months. He, however, disappeared, prompting the court to issue a warrant of arrest.
While reading the sentence on Tuesday, Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Francis Kyambia noted that the accused did not show commitment to pay the money.
“I find that the respondent has shown no effort to repay the amount but instead disappeared, the court commits him to 30 days civil jail,” the magistrate ruled.
SURGERY
Mr Mwaniki told the court that his car hire business was experiencing financial challenges and he could not mobilise resources to pay the money.
“My father passed on while my mother is scheduled to undergo surgery next week,” he said
He added: “I was being evicted from my house at the time the police came to arrest me, I cannot afford paying my own rent. I ask the court to give me at least one month to reorganise myself and settle the debt.”
CONTRACT
Ms Marinda told the court the businessman had shifted from his residence and changed his mobile phone number.
The complainant had entered into a contract with Mr Mwaniki in 2017 and handed over her vehicle to the accused’s car hire firm.  
The terms of the contract indicated Mr Mwaniki would pay Sh45,000 per month into Ms Marindah’s account.
“Mr Mwaniki breached the contract thereby exposing me to severe loss,” Ms Marindah told the court.
REMIT FUNDS
Besides failure to remit the funds, the complainant also accused Mr Mwaniki of failing to maintain the vehicle besides deliberately wrecking its engine and bumper. He was also accused of breaching the contract by altering the car’s tracking device settings.
Ms Marinda had asked the court to compel the businessman to pay her special damages amounting to Sh179,460.

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