Swazuri, land commissioners deposit Sh400,000 in court to secure freedom in contempt case

National Land Commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri. Mombasa residents who own plots taken over for the construction of the standard gauge railway will have to wait a little longer for compensation after the national lands agency announced it would review titles. FILE PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI |

What you need to know:

  • The contempt judgment had required them to pay a Sh250,000 fine each or serve a three-month jail term
  • On Friday, NLC told the court that they had complied with last Tuesday’s order where Sh400,000 was deposited as directed by court
  • Lawyer John Githui had sought orders to have the four cited for contempt saying they declined to heed the stoppage order and proceeded to advertise the Lomolo issue inviting all parties in the dispute to their headquarters for a sitting.

National Land Commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri and three commissioners have deposited Sh400,000 in a Nakuru court to secure their freedom.

Environment and Land judge Justice Sila Munyao had directed Mr Swazuri and commissioners Tomiik Mbuya, Abigail Mbagaya and Emma Muthoni Njogu to deposit the money in court when he allowed them to file an application seeking to set aside a contempt-of-court judgment.

The contempt judgment had required them to pay a Sh250,000 fine each else be arrested by Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet and be escorted to Nakuru GK Prison to serve a three-month jail term.

On Friday, lawyer Patricia Mitei, representing Lomolo (1962) Ltd, successfully pleaded for 14 days to respond to Swazuri’s application, saying they were not ready to proceed since they had just been served and needed time to prepare as well as file a reply to the application.

Earlier, Justice Munyao had condemned the commissioners for ignoring court orders, saying they had been given a chance to defend their actions of discussing a matter under litigation even after they were warned by lawyers representing Lomolo of the court injunction’s existence.

On Friday, the NLC told the court that they had complied with last Tuesday’s order, with Sh400,000 being deposited as directed by court, pending the hearing of their application in which they seek to convince the court that the contempt judgement cannot hold.

The NLC argues this is because the named NLC commissioners were never served with the summons to attend court to defend themselves.

CITED FOR CONTEMPT

Lawyer John Githui had sought orders to have the four cited for contempt, saying they declined to heed the stoppage order and proceeded to advertise the Lomolo issue inviting all parties in the dispute to their headquarters for a sitting.

"The commissioner told me bluntly that they were a constitutional commission whose work is free from interference from the courts. They said they are an independent commission and are therefore not answerable to any court in this land,” he said, adding that he was forced to leave the plenary session in protest as the Kombeiywo community members presented their case.

On Friday, the Kombeiywo community applied to be enjoined as parties to the suit, saying their properties were being destroyed by bulldozers following an order that declared the parcel private and owned by Lomolo (1962) Limited.

The case will be heard on June 11.

The episode started late last year after the High Court sitting in Nakuru heard a petition from a group of 150 squatters, who demanded to be granted a right to ownership or a share of a 3,500-acre sisal farm.

They averred that they had lived on the farm for generations and their eviction amounted to a historic injustice, but their plea was dismissed after the court ruled that their relation with Lomolo was a worker-employer relationship that usually ends on termination of the employment contract.

It was after this decision that the squatters filed a complaint in court against NLC and the matter was listed for hearing.