Kenyan businessman and former Youth Enterprise Development Fund chairman Gor Semelang’o has reportedly been incarcerated in Dubai following a dispute with a Kenyan business associate over ownership of a nightclub venture.
According to close friends, the disagreement, which under normal circumstances would be handled as a civil or commercial dispute, has escalated into a criminal matter under the UAE’s legal system where business conflicts can carry criminal liability.
Lawyer Donald B. Kipkorir, a close friend of Semelang’o, expressed concern over the situation, calling for diplomatic intervention to resolve the matter amicably.
“In Dubai, commercial disputes which are ordinarily civil are criminal. I have asked our good Foreign Affairs PS, Dr. Korir Sing’oei, to use our diplomatic relations with the UAE to amicably resolve the issue,” Kipkorir said.
“It is not right for a Kenyan to use the Dubai legal system against another Kenyan to settle a dispute that is contractual.”
Kipkorir described Semelang’o as “a good man with a big heart” and “one of the few Kenyans who has no tribalism in his bone.” He recalled his friend’s service as Chairman of the Youth Development Fund during President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, when the fund was widely credited with supporting thousands of youth-led enterprises across the country.
The lawyer also expressed optimism that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would intervene swiftly, saying he was “hopeful that the PS, who is also my friend, will expeditiously bring the matter to a close.”
As of the time of publication, neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the UAE authorities had issued an official statement on the case.
Semelang’o has been hanging out with his friends on many occasions in what many saw as extravagance.
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