A liquidator of United Insurance Company Limited which is owing creditors over Sh300 million has come under a scathing attack from creditors who are now baying for his removal.
They are accusing him of misconduct and lack of transparency.
Through lawyers Wanjiku Thondeka and C N Kiharara, the creditors are demanding to see bank statements and disbursements lists topolicy-holders who claim to be owed in excess of Sh600 million.
"We cannot allow the liquidator Kamai Antroy Bhatt to deplete the company such that by the time he leaves, there will be nothing to compensate claimants assets of the company," Mr Kihara told the judge.
To avoid the depletion of the assets of the one time flourishing companies in the insurance industry, a Commercial Division Judge at the Milimani High Court Francis Gikonyo ordered Mr Bhatt to appoint two technical committees of experts to verify all unpaid claims within 14 days from July 6, 2026.
Mr Kamal Anatroy Bhatt whom the creditors are agitating for his removal due to alleged gross dereliction of his statutory and fiduciary duties was ordered by Milimani High Court Commercial Division Judge Francis Gikonyo to file a progress report of the two technical committees periodically.
As the judge was giving the directions, claimants who walked before him with the aid of crutches cried loudly saying “we are suffering, we cannot afford medication and food yet courts have ordered we be compensated by our insurer.”
The judge pleaded with the claimants some of whom have their limbs amputated to be patient until July 28,2026 when Mr Bhatt will be put in the dock to explain how he has spent the monies he has recovered since he was appointed the liquidator of the cash stricken insurer.
The two committees are :- a Creditors Committee comprising seven (7) members and Verification Committee comprising five (5) members.
These committees were formed following serious allegations against Mr Bhatt by creditors and policy holders that “without their knowledge, consultation or approval, or sanction of creditors or the court unilaterally incurred an expenditure of Sh151,849,085.”
Creditors accused the liquidator of the Sh5 billion asset base Insurer of refusing to furnish any supporting documents, bank statements or receipts of to creditors or to the court which appointed him to supervise the company that went under reeling with a huge debt.
Mr Bhatt was appointed by the High Court on July 16, 2024, owing paramount accountability, transparency and fidelity to the creditors of the company in liquidation.
While tasking him with the duty of appointing the two technical committees, Justice Gikonyo ordered Mr Bhatt to discharge his duties “in the most transparent and accountable manner.”
The judge directed the verification committee to scrutinize all the claims properly to avoid paying bogus claims.
The judge required the two committees to get all the necessary judgements in respect of claimants from the Court registries to avoid paying fictitious claims.
The judge also directed lawyer C N Kihara who represents creditors and claimants to nominate two experts in insurance matters to sit in the verification committee comprising of five members.
The judge heard so far over 4,000 claims have so far been verified and forwarded to the liquidator for action.
The judge was also told some 1,600 payment applications have no Claim Numbers thereby making the verification task difficult.
“Some verification for payment of Sh118 million has been cleared by the technical committee,” the judge heard.
Creditors through lawyers Wanjiku Thondeka and Mr Kihara told the judge said they have encountered difficulties in establishing the workings of Mr Bhatt.
Justice Gikonyo asked Mr Bhatt to explain how he intends to settle the claims of the unpaid policy holders.
“My Lordship I only need nine (9) months and I will have settled all the claims,” Mr Bhatt told the judge amidst grumbling by claimants who attended the court session.
The judge heard eight days into his appointment Mr Bhatt Sh20 million was drawn from the bank account in legal fees.
Ms Thondeka submitted that out of the Sh151 million drawn by the liquidator Sh8 million was paid out as legal fees while claimants continue to lanquish in pain waiting for the settlement of their claims.
The lawyers for the creditors urged the judge to set a date when Mr Bhatt will be put in the dock for cross-examination on how he has run the once flourishing insurer.
“The expenditure of approximately Sh151,849,085.01, a sum alone that exceeds all verified creditor claims of approximately Sh300,000,000 by more than 50 per cent has been disbursed without the distribution of a single shilling to any creditor, constituting an unconscionable depletion of assets and a fundamental breach of the liquidators fiduciart duty to the court and creditors,” the creditor state in court filings.
The court has been informed that the Policy Holders Compensation Fund (PHCF) as statutory managers, handed over to the liquidator (Bhatt) liquid assets totaling to Sh340,718,191 together with anticipated income of Sh20,705,478.71.
He was also handed over title deeds for land valued at Sh5 billion.
The judge heard that the liquidator now seeks to dispose of assets while claimants have not been paid.
Now the creditors are urging the court to order an immediate inspection of all financial records-bank statements, receipts, invoices, payment schedules and all other documents relating to expenditure of Sh151,849,085.01.
The creditors are also urging the court to compel the liquidator to refund to the company all the monies expended without approval of creditors or to the satisfaction of the court.
Further the creditors are urging the court to remove Mr Bhatt as Liquidator on account “of gross dereliction of his statutory and fiduciary duties, his unconscionable unilateral expenditure of the company’s assets and his systematic exclusion of creditors from the liquidation process.”
The court filings show that since his appointment Mr Bhatt has called for only creditors meeting to inform them on the position of the company.
Now the judge has directed Mr Bhatt to call for a creditors meeting and also extended orders for him to receive a salary for July 2026.
The case will proceed July 28, 2026.