Keroche Breweries has suffered a fresh setback in court after it lost an attempt to block a Sh45 million payout to its former Managing Director Sam Shollei, deepening financial pressure on a brewer that says more than 500 jobs could be at risk.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the company’s application for more time to revive an earlier bid to halt execution of the award, finding it had failed to explain a delay of more than two years.
The dispute stems from a judgment by the Labour and Employment Court in September 2022 in which Keroche was ordered to pay Mr Shollei Sh45.5 million for unfair dismissal, an amount that has since risen to an excess of Sh75 million through interest and costs. Mr Shollei has separately sought to liquidate the company over the unpaid debt.
The latest defeat comes as the Naivasha-based brewer, which court filings say employs more than 500 workers directly and supports thousands of farmers through its supply chain, grapples with multiple legal and financial disputes. Keroche had filed a notice of appeal against the judgment and later sought orders suspending execution pending determination of its intended appeal.
However, its stay application, filed in March 2023, was dismissed on June 19, 2023, after its advocates failed to attend the hearing despite being served. The brewer later changed lawyers, and in July 2025 sought to revive the application, arguing that it should not be punished for mistakes committed by its previous advocates.
The new lawyers withdrew the revival bid in January 2026, and later in April filed a fresh application seeking extension of time within which to apply for reinstatement of the application which was dismissed for want of prosecution in June 2023.
Mr Shollei opposed the application, saying Keroche had shown a pattern of delay and could not shift blame to its lawyers.
The court agreed that advocate error was not, by itself, enough to excuse prolonged inaction.
“There is no absolute rule that a mistake of counsel automatically constitutes ‘sufficient cause’ to grant an extension of time,” the court said.
It found that Keroche had failed to account for the lengthy delay in pursuing reinstatement and noted that litigants have a duty to remain vigilant over their own cases.
The court said Keroche had failed to comply with rules requiring applications for reinstatement to be filed within 30 days of dismissal and had not satisfactorily explained the lengthy delay.
“It took over two years for the applicant to instruct another advocate. This period of inaction has not been explained,” it said, dismissing the application.
Applying the principles governing extension of time, the court concluded that the delay was “inordinate to the extent that it disentitles the applicant to the relief sought.”
