Indian firm White Lotus Group has been ordered by the high court to pay KES 197 million to a supplier in the stalled city sky scrapper project, Pinnacle Towers.

High Court judge Alfred Mabeya late last month ordered the firm to pay Peri Formwork Scaffolding the sum of KES 187 Million owed to the supplier. The judge also ordered the firm to pay the supplier an additional KES 10 Million in damages with interest on general damages accruing from the date of the ruling.

"An award of general damages is a remedy for the loss incurred by the injured party due to the breach of contract. The plaintiff demonstrated that it suffered losses due to the depreciation, tampering with, removal, and dealing with the supplied material as they lay in waste in the defendant's possession,” the ruling states.

The court found the construction firm liable for breach of contract noting that the company did not challenge the claims brought to the court by Peri Formwork.

"Since the plaintiff’s evidence was unchallenged, I hold that the plaintiff was able to prove, on a balance of probability the existence of the said contract; its performance and the breach thereof," he said.

The KES 20 billion Pinnacle project which was launched by President Uhuru in 2017 with a three-year completion timeline stalled shortly after construction work started following some disputes causing delays that are said to have scared away investors.

In October 2020, a notice by the National Construction Authority prompted the project's developers to issue a statement saying the project is not dead. The developers said they were working on securing finance and redesign of the 300-metre tall tower project.