Directline Assurance is seeking court action against businessman Samuel Kamau (SK) Macharia, accusing him of contempt of court for forcibly removing the company’s board and installing a new management team in blatant defiance of a court order.

According to court documents, Mr Macharia allegedly stormed the insurer’s offices at Hazina Towers in Nairobi on Monday, expelled CEO Sammy Kanyi and the sitting board, and replaced them with his own appointees.

This move, which occurred despite a judicial directive dated October 4, 2024, effectively paralysed the insurer’s operations and locked out the existing management, putting both the public and policyholders at risk.

In a sworn affidavit, Mr Kanyi demands that Mr Macharia be jailed and restrained from further interference with the company’s administration.

Lawyer Maina, representing Directline, told the court: “On September 22, 2025 and notwithstanding orders prohibiting him from doing so, the 1st defendant (Mr Macharia) physically entered the plaintiff’s offices and forcefully broke into the principal officer’s office on the 19th Floor of Hazina Towers.”

Mr Maina urged urgent court intervention, requesting that police enforce the existing orders and remove the individuals Mr Macharia unlawfully installed.

He explained that Mr Macharia justified his actions by claiming that shareholders Royal Credit Ltd and Samsoni Plc had terminated the board members, which included Tom Otieno Odongo, Maina Mwangi, Titus Karanja, and Kenneth Ndura. Subsequently, Mr Macharia appointed Stella Kinoti as head of finance, Wilson Wambugu Maina as principal officer, and James Mari as head of IT.

“To effect these purported changes in the plaintiff’s management, the 1st defendant, along with his personal security team, physically broke into the plaintiff’s offices on the 19th Floor of Hazina Towers and subsequently barred the company’s principal officer and its directors from accessing the said offices, unlawfully halting the company’s operations,” Mr Maina added.

High Court judge Francis Gikonyo has classified the application as urgent and scheduled a hearing for December 13, 2025, warning all parties to respect the court’s orders. “The application is based on contempt of court. Thus, certified to be urgent,” he remarked.

The battle for control of Directline, once a dominant player in the commercial PSV insurance sector, has been ongoing among shareholders for several years. The ownership dispute was taken to arbitration and a ruling was issued on May 11, 2022. However, the matter remains pending as legal challenges to the ruling are unsettled.

Founded in 1998 by John Macharia, the late son of the Royal Media Services chairman, Directline previously commanded over half of the PSV insurance market—a segment covering motorists and passengers against death, injury, and vehicle damage.

However, it has since been eclipsed by Africa Merchant Assurance, partly owned by President William Ruto’s family and associates, which held a 54.71 percent market share as of March 2025, up from 37.51 percent in December 2024.