A businessman has taken the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) to court over what he terms as wrongful blacklisting.
In his petition, David Sila Onyango claims CRB negatively listed him over an alleged debt of USD 2.1 million (over Sh200 million). He says the blacklisting resulted in him being denied credit by a local bank.
Onyango states that on October 2, 2020, he applied for Sh30 million credit facility from the Co-operative Bank of Kenya but the application was declined on the grounds that he had a negative listing by CRB.
The petitioner, a businessman in the freight and logistics industry, adds that despite demanding the particulars of the alleged debt that resulted in the blacklisting from TransUnion from September 2020, the firm has ignored his emails and a demand letter from his lawyer.
Onyango, through his lawyer Fred Orago, insists that he has never had a debt totaling the said amount of USD 2,187,218.03 as set out in CRB’s Consumer Report.
“Despite the defendant (CRB) being duly notified of the incorrect negative listing, it has not taken any steps to delete the said listing or otherwise provide the particulars of the said listing,” court documents read.
“In consequence of the said wrongful listing, I have been gravely injured in my credit, reputation, character and standing as a person in the way of my occupation and profession as an astute businessman and now I am unable to get any credit from registered establishments,” Onyango argues.
The petitioner is seeking Sh22.3 million compensation from CRB; he is also seeking a permanent injunction restraining CRB from negatively listing him.
The matter will be mentioned on September 20, 2021.
