Police boss Mutyambai risks civil jail in land dispute

Police Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai risks being jailed for contempt of court should an application filed by Braeburn Schools Ltd succeed.

This prospect arose from a case filed by Education Investment Company, which owns several prestigious learning institutions and is battling to retain ownership of a 50.6-acre tract in Nanyuki that the government is attempting to recover on the grounds that it belongs to the public.

The government says the land, where the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives wants to establish a textile factory, was transferred to Braeburn Schools Ltd fraudulently.

But the schools’ director, Mr Robert Williams, maintains that the school is the registered owner of the land having bought it in 2009 for Sh40 million.

Mr Williams also wants Laikipia County Commissioner Daniel Nyameti cited for contempt.

The IG and the county commissioner, Mr Williams says, have defied and disobeyed orders issued on August 8 by Environment and Land Court Judge Mary Oundo.

The injunctive orders restrained the government and its agencies from interfering with the suit property in any way pending hearing of the dispute.

But despite being served with the orders, the company argues, they have refused to remove police officers stationed on the land.

In his court papers, the director states that the police have denied the company and its tenants unconditional access to the property as ordered by the judge.