With a debt now worth Sh1 million after losing his appeal, Kenyan filmmaker David ‘Tosh’ Gitonga is pleading with the courts to allow him to settle the amount owed to a German filmmaker in small instalments. He is proposing to pay Sh10,000 every month.

The filmmaker, who shot to prominence through his work on “Nairobi Half Life”, says he is facing severe financial difficulties that have left him unable to clear the debt in one lump sum.

In a fresh application filed at the Small Claims Court through his lawyer, Tosh says he is not seeking to evade his legal obligations but wants the court to allow him to settle the outstanding amount in monthly instalments of Sh10,000, which he says is the maximum he can currently afford.

“The Judgment Debtor (Tosh Gitonga) is presently undergoing severe financial hardship and is genuinely incapable of settling the outstanding balance in one lump sum,” his lawyer says in the application.

Tosh is also asking the court to hear the matter on a priority basis, citing fears that the Christian Kramer, the German who has sued him, could move to execute the judgment before his application is determined.

David Tosh Gitonga

Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group

“Unless this application is heard urgently and interim orders granted, the Decree Holder is likely to proceed with execution before the Court has had an opportunity to determine this Application.”

The court is set to rule on the application in a few weeks.

Tosh’s legal troubles trace back to a WhatsApp conversation between 2022 and 2023, when he engaged Kramer to provide services that helped him secure undisclosed Netflix funding for his series “Volume.” The series later earned three nominations at the prestigious Zanzibar International Film Festival in 2024.

Also Read: How WhatsApp chat cost top filmmaker, Tosh Gitonga, Sh1 million

But a payment dispute would then arise with Kramer, who worked on the “Volume” pilot, accusing Tosh of refusing to honour his end of the bargain.

The German filmmaker says Tosh failed to pay him an agreed Sh678,403 fee, prompting him to file a claim at the Small Claims Court in mid-2023.

Tosh disputed the claim, arguing that there was no formal written contract between the two that could legally compel him to make the payment.

The Small Claims Court, however, ruled in favour of Kramer, finding that the WhatsApp exchanges between the two filmmakers amounted to a legally binding agreement.

Unhappy with the decision, Tosh appealed to the High Court, arguing, among other things, that the lower court had erred in treating the WhatsApp exchanges as a contract.

BUZZTosh — Filmmaker Tosh Gitonga.

Photo credit: Pool

Last month, however, the High Court upheld the Small Claims Court’s decision, effectively bringing the legal battle to an end with the order that Tosh must now pay the debt.

In October 2024, Tosh survived an auctioneer’s scare following the Small Claims Court judgement, rushing to file an appeal at the High Court after Interfield Auctioneers stormed and attached proclaimed assets totalling Sh985,884 in a bid to recover Kramer’s debt.

Also Read: Top Kenyan filmmaker battles auctioneers over Netflix series debt

At the time, the debt had risen to Sh778,084 when the auctioneers stormed Primary Pictures' office, after the magistrate granted a warrant following Gitonga’s failure to honour the court's judgment delivered in June of 2024, ordering him to pay up Karmer.

Following the turn of events, Gitonga moved quickly to file an appeal at the High Court in November 2024, challenging the Magistrate’s decision.

Tosh was then ordered by the courts to deposit with it Sh400,000 pending the hearing and determination of the matter. With costs of the suits against Tosh plus interest at court rates since the date of the Small Claims judgement in June 2024, the debt owed by Gitonga to the German now stands in excess of Sh1 million.

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tmatiko@ke.nationmedia.com.