The battle over the government's tax incentives to a manufacturer has taken a new twist, with the court deferring its ruling on whether to lift the orders issued in September 2024.
These orders, which were made by High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye, halted the implementation of a 2019 Special Operating Framework Arrangement (SOFA) agreement between the Treasury and Blue Nile Rolling Mills Limited.
The judge deferred the ruling again on November 19, 2024, and then a second time on December 18, 2024, following revelations that Blue Nile had not been informed that the parties, James Magare and William Masengo, had filed another similar case before the Commercial Court.
During the December hearing, Blue Nile's lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, argued that there was an issue of forum shopping, as Bwire, the lawyer for Magare and Masengo, had filed the case in another court before moving it to Judge Mwamuye's court.
