• Ngirita is one of the accused in the National Youth Service corruption case and their accounts were frozen.
• She had asked the court to allow her access her account at the Kenya Commercial Bank to withdraw funds for payment of school fees for her son.
Image: COURTESY
The High Court on Wednesday declined to allow NYS graft suspect Phylis Ngirita to withdraw Sh700,000 from her frozen bank account for her son's school fees.
Ngirita is one of the accused in the National Youth Service corruption case and their accounts were frozen.
She had asked the court to allow her access her account at the Kenya Commercial Bank to withdraw funds for payment of school fees for her son. The boy is a student at Pembroke School.
While dismissing the application, Justice Mumbi Ngugi said Ngirita was out to hoodwink the court with the aid of her lawyer Evans Ondieki.
The judge said Ngirita seems to have been operating under the misapprehension that the allegation that the rights of a child are being violated will move the court to grant orders without inquiring further into the matter.
“While courts do consider the interest of children and would like to avoid a situation in which they are exposed to hardship, the mere allegation that this is the case is not sufficient to move the court to grant orders in favour of the applicant,” Ngugi said.
The judge said the matter as filed was an abuse of court process as the issues raised are already before another court and that there is in force an order addressing itself to the funds sought.
Philis is among the four members of the Ngirita family facing criminal charges over theft of millions of shillings from the NYS.
She filed the application arguing that the freezing of her account has caused undue hardship to her family and disrupted the education of her children.
“My son has been unable to attend school because of the outstanding fees. I am not engaged in any meaningful employment hence necessitating this application and allowing the withdrawal of school fees will not in any way prejudice any party in the case,” she said.
The accused said the money in the KCB account has no link with the corruption case she is facing because it is a loan she took from Opportunity International for purposes of paying school fees.
She said the court should prioritise the best interest of the child in dealing with her application.