Ex-couple fights over control of K'Osewe empire

William Osewe, owner of the popular K'Osewe (Ranalo Foods). INSET: Ranalo Foods along Kimathi Street in Nairobi. [Standard] There is trouble at Nairobi's famous K'Osewe Ranalo food restaurant. As the eateries serve visitors and workers alike delicacies such as fish, athola (smoked beef), and fried intestines, their operations are a bitter meal that has split businessman William Osewe Guda and his former wife, Stella Anne Mutheu Osewe. Mutheu has sued Osewe before the Commercial Court in Nairobi. In her case, she alleged that the idea of putting up a restaurant was birthed when they were married. According to her lawyer Waithaka Ngaruiya, they decided to put a company in 1997, Ranalo Foods Limited, and split their shares 50:50. The firm was incorporated on November 26, 1997. She claimed in her case that everything was smooth until sometime in 2018 when their bliss hit a dead end. Mutheu said they parted ways in 2022, which allegedly led to a strain on how they ran the business. "Initially and before the plaintiff's separation from the first defendant and the ultimate dissolution of their marriage, the plaintiff was actively involved in the running and day-to-day management of the main business of the second defendant (Ranalo), being a renowned restaurant operated under the name Ranalo Foods situated along Kimathi Street, parklands and along Kiambu Road in Nairobi," said Waithaka. Mutheu alleged that after their marriage ended, Osewe sidelined her from the business and blocked her from accessing information. "The plaintiff is still a director and a shareholder," she argued, adding that Osewe had been since 2018 running the restaurants solo. She further alleged that she had been denied access to the restaurants and could not inspect books and statements of accounts or deal with Ranalo. Mutheu argued it was unfair for Osewe not to engage her as a shareholder and a director. "The first defendant has excluded me from the management of the second defendant and its businesses and has blatantly refused and or neglected to avail and provide me with information relating to the general affairs of the second defendant since 2018 despite numerous requests to do so," she claimed. At the same time, Mutheu accused her husband of failing to call for an Annual General Meeting or allow her to sit on the board. Mutheu also alleged that she has also been locked out from the financial affairs of Ranalo. According to her, she does not receive revenue or dividends arising from the business profits. "Consequently and in light of the foregoing, the first defendant has maintained and continues to maintain unlawful stranglehold on the second defendant and its businesses and had maintained the sole control over the assets of the company," she claimed. She expressed fears that her name will be removed from the company's ownership record. At the same time she alleged that liabilities may be incurred without her consent. Mutheu said that on December 13, 2024, she wrote to Osewe seeking documentation on Ranalo's compliance with the law, its employees, and whether statutory deductions had been remitted on behalf of the employees. "He has declined to provide the same, and I am apprehensive that judgments may arise out of employment disputes or statutory non-compliances, and I will only get to know the same during enforcement by auctioneers and government authorities," she claimed. She alleged that Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) had allegedly issued an agency notice on Ranalo's bank accounts over tax arrears. Mutheu wants the court to block Ranalo or Osewe from opening a new bank account. At the same time, she is seeking orders to have her be a mandatory joint signatory of all bank accounts and approver of all Mpesa transactions of Ranalo. Osewe's former wife also wants the court to bar him or Ranalo from transferring or changing the restaurant's directorship. The other order being sought in the case is an audit report on all money transactions from 2018. Mutheu also wants Osewe forced to release all the financial records, accounts statements or information relating to Ranalo to her and to the auditors whom she wants to be appointed by the court.

Ex-couple fights over control of K'Osewe empire

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