A legal battle over the future of Multiple Hauliers East Africa Limited has taken a new turn after the High Court temporarily stopped administrators appointed by NCBA Bank Kenya from taking control of the logistics company.
The orders were issued on August 7, 2026, by Justice Gregory Mutai following an application by Multiple Hauliers challenging the appointment of Muniu Thoithi and George Weru of PricewaterhouseCoopers as joint administrators.
The court directed the two administrators not to present themselves as administrators of Multiple Hauliers or take charge of the company’s operations until the application challenging their appointment is heard.
NCBA Bank and KCB Bank were also stopped from appointing a receiver or receivers over the company during the same period.
The case comes amid a long-running financial dispute involving Multiple Hauliers and several banks and other creditors.
NCBA is seeking to recover about Sh7.2 billion from the company, while the wider debt burden facing the logistics firm is significantly higher.
According to an Official Receiver report filed in November 2024, Multiple Hauliers had debts of more than Sh31.4 billion, against assets estimated at about Sh17 billion.
The figures show the scale of the financial difficulties at the centre of the ongoing court proceedings.
Other creditors listed in the proceedings include KCB Bank, Co-operative Bank, Prime Bank, I&M Bank, Bank of India, Synergy Industrial Credit and the National Social Security Fund.
Court records indicate that KCB and Co-operative Bank were owed a combined amount of about Sh8.82 billion, while I&M Bank was seeking approximately Sh627.9 million.
Synergy Industrial Credit has also pursued a claim of about Sh532 million and had previously sought the liquidation of Multiple Hauliers.
The latest disagreement focuses on whether NCBA had the legal authority to appoint the two administrators without first obtaining a court order.
Multiple Hauliers argues that the bank did not hold a qualifying floating charge under Section 534 of the Insolvency Act, which the company says is necessary for such an appointment.
NCBA announced the appointment of Thoithi and Weru through a Gazette Notice dated July 27, 2026. The bank stated that their role was to examine options for rescuing Multiple Hauliers as a going concern or achieving a better outcome for creditors than liquidation would provide.
Multiple Hauliers rejected the move and later issued cease and desist demands to the appointed administrators.
The company then approached the High Court, asking it to stop them from exercising authority over the business.
Justice Mutai certified the application as urgent and issued the temporary orders pending further consideration of the dispute. The court has not made a final decision on whether the appointment of the administrators was lawful.
The company has been involved in insolvency proceedings for several years. In June 2021, NCBA previously appointed administrators over Multiple Hauliers.
That appointment was later suspended, and the matter was combined with liquidation proceedings involving Synergy Industrial Credit.
In September 2024, Justice Alfred Mabeya appointed the Official Receiver after earlier administrators resigned. The Official Receiver was tasked with overseeing a proposed investment transaction and providing regular reports to creditors.
NCBA’s latest appointment in July 2026 therefore marks another development in the long-running struggle over the company’s financial position and future.
The August 7 orders do not settle the wider insolvency dispute. They only prevent the newly appointed administrators from exercising their powers for the time being and stop NCBA and KCB from appointing receivers while the current application is pending.
The matter is scheduled to return before the High Court on September 25, 2026, when the parties will have an opportunity to argue their positions.
The court will then consider the challenge to the administrators’ appointment as the wider dispute over Multiple Hauliers and its creditors continues.
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