Several companies have moved to the High Court seeking to overturn orders that have blocked them from pursuing more than Sh6.2 billion in pending payments from the National Youth Service (NYS), escalating a long-running dispute over historical supply claims.

The firms — among them six associated with businessman Benson Gethi Wangui — are challenging ex-parte orders issued by Justice Lucy Njuguna, which bar NYS from settling claims totalling Sh6,167,797,655 for goods allegedly supplied between 2013 and 2015.

The contested claims relate to supplies said to include boots, fuel, helmets, T-shirts, food items such as cooking oil, sugar and baked beans, as well as assorted tools and equipment. The court orders restrain the companies, their agents or representatives from demanding payment, while simultaneously prohibiting NYS from releasing the funds tied to thousands of payment vouchers.

In an urgent application, the companies argue that the orders were issued without full disclosure of critical facts and describe them as excessive and punitive. Through their lawyer, they are asking the court to lift the restrictions and to direct the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to release original payment vouchers and Local Purchase Orders (LPOs), which the commission acknowledges are in its custody.

According to the applicants, the documents have been held by investigators for more than six years, including a two-year period after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) advised that the investigation file be closed. They say this has made it impossible to fully comply with a government verification exercise on pending bills.

The companies state that they submitted claims for 21 LPOs to the Pending Bills Multi-Agency Verification Committee, following a public call for verification of historical government debts dating back to 2005. However, they say the absence of original documentation — held by the EACC — left their submissions incomplete.

They further argue that the continued detention of the documents, coupled with court orders blocking payment claims, violates the constitutional right to fair and reasonable administrative action.

In their filings, the firms also accuse the EACC of seeking to preserve funds that have not been paid out. They argue that no money has moved from the public purse and therefore there is nothing to freeze or safeguard under anti-corruption laws.

The applicants contend that the verification process was overseen by a Cabinet-appointed multi-agency team — of which the EACC was a member — and guided by an Attorney-General’s advisory and Cabinet directive. They say the bulk of the claims were approved, with only Sh812 million reportedly excluded.

The EACC, however, maintains that the claims are fraudulent. In court documents, the commission alleges that the companies colluded with NYS officials to submit claims for goods that were never delivered, supported by falsified paperwork including LPOs, delivery notes and inspection records.

Several former and serving NYS officials are named in the case, accused of approving or signing documents despite allegedly knowing that no supplies had been made. The commission is seeking court declarations that the claims are illegal and wants NYS permanently barred from honouring the payment vouchers as investigations continue.

The dispute now sets the stage for a high-stakes legal showdown, with the court expected to determine whether the payment freeze should stand — or whether the firms can revive their multi-billion-shilling claims against the State.