The National Social Security Fund wants an urgent meeting of shareholders held to resolve the dispute over the management of East Africa Portland Cement Company.

NSSF Managing Trustee Alex Kazongo told a Nairobi court that being the largest shareholder in the cement maker, the pension fund was losing a lot of revenue due to the stoppage of operations as a result of the unsettled court battles. (READ: Cases on Portland board row merged)

“The NSSF Board of Trustees wants practical steps taken to secure uninterrupted operations of the company and find a lasting solution to the ongoing wrangles,” said Mr Kazongo.

He clarified that NSSF still owned 27 per cent of shares in the company, contrary to claims by the suspended directors that it had reduced its shares to 23 per cent.

The clarification is likely to resolve the contentious dispute on whether the cement firm is a parastatal or a private entity.

Limited shares

When acting Industrialisation minister Amason Kingi suspended the board of directors last month, they argued that the minister had no powers to do so because the company was not a government corporation.

According to the suspended directors, the government owned 25.3 per cent of shares which, when combined with the 23 per cent held by NSSF could not qualify the firm as a parastatal.