FRED AMINGA
DISPUTE: A deal between Satia Ltd and DIB Kenya — a fully owned subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank — over a contract to develop a system targeting four million Muslims who have no access to a mobile Shariah product,
has run into headwinds. At the centre of the tussle which has raised concerns over intellectual ownership of mobile applications, Satia claims it had been contracted by the bank to develop the app but has since been barred from accessing DIB Bank Kenya premises.
A letter sent by the firm’s lawyers, says despite spending on developing the app for 16 months while operating from the bank’s offices, DIB Kenya terminated their agreement even after
performing the application’s dry test. “This being the present state of affairs, my client hereby claims Sh1.2 billion for services, solutions and products provided to DIB Kenya,” said Ogeto, Otachi and Company Advocates on behalf of Satia.
The letter sent to the bank through MMC Africa Law says the move was a breach of provisions of their contract and a tort of infringement on its intellectual property and Satia now wants DIB Kenya to pay up within ten days.
“It (Satia Ltd) has thus incurred huge financial expenses and investment in time and skills. These include services, coding and integrations,” Ogeto, Otachi and Company Advocates said on behalf of the firm. “A test run involving your staff, annexed hereto, confirmed that the mobile money platform system worked efficiently,” read the letter in part.
The letter sent to the bank through MMC Africa Law says Satia performed a dry run of the developed systems embedded in the DIB servers and it was successful only to be stopped suddenly.
Claiming the action was tantamount to constructive confiscation and denial of access to an installed product, the firm says it sees no major reason why they were denied entry to the work station by the lender. Attempts by People Daily to reach DIB Kenya chief executive were futile as phone calls and short messages went unanswered.
