Trader threatens to sue KQ over dispute in unexplained reduction in shares
Kamau says he has been writing to KQ chairman Michael Joseph, demanding an explanation on the issue, without getting any responses.
A major Kenya Airways (KQ) shareholder has threatened to sue the state carrier for failure to clarify the status of his shareholding worth over Sh1 billion after learning the shares register had been altered.
Businessman Mike Maina Kamau says his shares at the company stand at 64.3 million according to a 2017 register, but he learnt through a local newspaper that the shares had been reduced to 16 million.
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Kamau accuses KQ chairman Michael Joseph and the management of the company of ignoring his numerous letters seeking clarification on the issue of the shares register.
Some of the letters that Kamau says did not yield a response were sent in 2020. He says he only read in a newspaper that his shares were indicated to be 16,099,735 in a shareholders list obtained from KQ.
Kamau says he has been writing to Joseph, demanding an explanation on the issue, without getting any responses.
The last letter was delivered and stamped as received on April 3, in which Maina warned he would take legal action.
"I noticed across a feature in (a newspaper) that my shareholding was reflected as 16,099,735, which is not correct. My shareholding in Kenya Airways is 64,398,940 ordinary shares as of today. The purpose of this letter is to advise you of my intention to sell off some of my shares. I would therefore appreciate your comments on the above reported status to facilitate my decision," Kamau's letter reads.
"I regret to note that all my previous letters to your offices regarding this matter have not been replied to date. Take notice, therefore, that if I do not receive the information within 14 days from today's date, I have no alternative but to institute legal proceedings against you without further notice or reference to you whatsoever."
Kamau is among the shareholders who held a special annual general meeting (AGM) on August 7, 2017, to approve a proposed restructuring chosen as the turnaround strategy to improve operations and financial performance and remove the company from indebtedness.
Part of the agreement was that shareholders would relinquish 75 per cent of their shares to be used in settling the debts in the turnaround strategy, but it did not happen as the National Assembly elected a nationalisation of KQ.
The shareholders expected that their shares would return to them and the status quo would continue pending further decisions, but this did not happen, and Kamau says he has never received any communication in regard to the shares' register since then.
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