The High Court has blocked directors of a manufacturer of packaging products from disrupting the functions of Equity Bank-appointed administrators who took over the operations of the financially distressed firm early this month.
The lender appointed Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao and Swaroop Rao Ponangipalli as joint administrators on October 30 and took over the operations of Nes Poly Pack limited, over a debt of Sh193 million.
However, the joint administrators returned to court for protection after directors and their agents allegedly stormed the premises in Isinya on November 8 and disrupted their functions. The court was told the directors have been allegedly carting away assets and goods belonging to the company.
The High Court granted the two administrators orders, blocking the directors of the manufacturer from evicting them, disrupting the operations of the company or interfering with their functions, pending the determination of the application.
‘It is necessary and in the interest of justice that the application filed herein be certified as urgent and the same be heard on priority basis, and the orders sought thereunder be granted to allow the joint administrators to proceed with the administration of the debtor company without the risk of violence and disruption by the directors of the company,’ the joint administrators said in the application.
Court documents show that the manufacturer issued a floating debenture of Sh100 million in March 2019 over the company assets and a further Sh93 million in June 2021, which was also secured using the company’s assets.
The joint administrators were appointed on October 30, by Equity Bank as a secured creditor.
The administrators took control of the company on November 5, 2025 and notified the public in a newspaper advertisement the following day.
On November 8, the directors and employees of the company allegedly made violent and forceful entry into the company’s premises and disrupted the operations of the firm, making it impossible for the administrators and their staff to carry out their work.
The court heard that the violent and illegal actions were reported by the joint administrators at Isinya police station, court documents said.
The directors of the firm then sought an order to stop the appointment of the administrators, pending determination of the case.
The court issued interim orders, stopping the administrators from taking over the operations, pending the determination of the application on November 6.
But the administrators have contested the order arguing that it was made in error and ought to be struck out.
‘Therefore, there is an obvious error apparent on the record of the court in as far as the proceedings, the directors and orders of the court refer to an order issued in this cause on October 30, 2025, a date by which this case had not been filed,’ the administrators said.
The administrators added that during disruption, goods and raw materials were allegedly carted away from the company premises to unknown destinations.
‘The court should intervene and issue a temporary injunction to prevent the company and the creditors of the company as a whole from suffering irreparable loss that cannot be compensated by an award of damages,’ Mr Swaroop said in an affidavit.
He said the balance of convenience tilts in favour of the joint administrators and the secured creditor to enable them to take over the business and assets of the debtor company and avert the unilateral actions of the directors of the company in disposing of the assets of the company in an attempt to defeat the objective of the administration.