Nairobi, Jan. 13 -- Consolidated Bank has lost a $1.5 million (Sh203 million) software upgrade dispute against office technology firm MFI Technology Solutions Limited.

The High Court ruled that the bank's failure to pay licence fees derailed a core banking system upgrade and unlawfully triggered a call on a performance guarantee.

The court found that the government-owned lender was in breach of a 2022 technology contract and could not blame its software vendors for delays caused by non-payment.

The dispute stemmed from a tender to upgrade and maintain the bank's core banking system, a critical platform for daily transactions and regulatory reporting.

The licence fee was $1.334 million, secured by a $243,600 performance guarantee.

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