Equity Bank chief executive James Mwangi is set to file a suit against businesswoman Esther Muthoni Passaris for claiming that he sexually harassed her. Passaris ignited an online brawl this week when she posted on social media that her financial woes were as a result of rebuffing Mwangi’s sexual advances.
In a series of tweets, she alleged that the harassment took place in 2006 during an event at Strathmore University for company executives. She said she hasn’t been communicating with the Equity CEO because he allegedly has not been responding to her correspondence, including text messages.
But Mwangi’s communication handlers yesterday told People Daily that Mwangi was surprised by Passaris’ claims. “He (Mwangi) is very upset and is talking to his lawyers who are expected to file a lawsuit against Passaris for false sexual harassment claims and defamation,” said Mwangi’s aide who sought anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter.
The aide said Passaris has resorted to a smear campaign after the bank pushed her to pay a loan she borrowed 11 years ago. “Why bring up an issue of sexual harassment a decade after its alleged occurrence? Could her allegations be linked to Equity Bank’s decisions to continue pushing for the loan repayment in full plus interest?” asked the aide.
People Daily acquired confidential documents detailing the convoluted genesis of Passaris’ financial woes and trouble with Equity Bank. In 2006, Passaris took several loans amounting to Sh60 million from Equity Bank. The money was to be used partly to finance an advertising contract with the lender and finance operations.
As part of the application process, Passaris prepared revenue projections based on receipts of her then thriving advertising company, Adopt-A-Light and presented a business plan.
The bank approved the loans. Life was blissful then. The company was awarded a Sh35.6 million contract by Equity on July 10, 2006 to provide advertising services and an agreement was drawn, supervised by the two parties’ advocates.
Unfortunately for Passaris, the loans and lucrative contract from Equity Bank coincided with a licensing battle with the defunct Nairobi City Council (NCC) over her advertising business, which would severely whittle her business and influence.
Three weeks after she signed the deal with Equity, NCC barred Adopt-A-Light from erecting outdoor advertisements in the city and withdrew her licence. This meant the company could not honour the deal with Equity. This, effectively ushered in troubled times for the businesswoman, who she had to service loans even as her company’s financial fortunes were dipping.
And unable to get Passaris to pay rates, NCC turned on Equity Bank, issuing a demand note to bank accusing it of erecting 244 billboards in Nairobi without its authority.
After a series of law suits and push-and-pull, a result of the impasse, the bank forwarded Passaris’ name to Credit Reference Bureaus, potentially locking her out of the loans market for several years and consigning her to high borrowing charges, in case she is to access a loan facility from other lenders.
Kenyans have weighed in on the dispute, taking sides with either Mwangi or Passaris. Some are accusing the businesswoman of attempt to blackmail the banker.
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