An Appeal Court has found Nairobi County Secretary and MCA Robert Mbatia guilty of disobeying orders that stopped them from taking over a family property.
George Ngacha Njiriri with his family members had moved to court seeking justice after the County Secretary and Kariobangi South MCA Mbatia took over their property located in Buruburu despite a court order stopping the eviction.
A ruling delivered on December 15 by judges Sankale Ole Kantai, Francis Tuiyot and Mwaniki Gachoka found the County Secretary and Mbatia guilty and ordered that they appear in court to explain why they should not be committed to a civil jail.
"Ultimately, we find and order Robert Mbatia and the person or persons occupying the office of the County Secretary, County Government of Nairobi between April 14, 2023, and June 16, 2023, are guilty of disobeying the order of this Court made on April 14, 2023, in Civil Application No. E422 of 2022," the judges ruled.
The bench further ordered that Mbatia and the person or persons occupying the office of the County Secretary found to be contemnors, shall attend Court to show cause why they should not be committed to civil jail.
The judges further said the Registry of the Court shall, on a priority basis, give a date for hearing of the notice to show cause and the advocate for the applicants shall serve a hearing notice upon the contemnors and the advocates on record for the respondents.
Njiriri and his family filed the contempt of court proceedings in June 2023 in which they sought the bench to cite for contempt the County Secretary and Robert Mbatia and order their committal to civil jail for a term of six months for disobedience of the orders.
Njiriri also told the Court to issue warrants of arrest of the cited persons or impose other sanctions as the Court will deem fit.
The judges noted that the application was not opposed.
Njiriri argued that on April 14, 2023, the Court (Musinga (P), Laibuta, Ngenye Macharia, JJ.A) made an order for maintenance of the status quo regarding plot numbers 34/A, D, E, F, and G (the suit properties) and which status quo was defined to be that there would be no further construction or development of the suit property and the respondents were restrained from evicting the applicants or any of them from the suit property.
The County was restrained from charging or transferring the proprietary interests in the suit property.
"Despite being aware of the ruling and orders of the Court, the 2nd respondent(Mbatia), with the assistance of the 1st respondent, was at some time before or on June 13, 2023, constructing on the suit properties until its completion," Njiriri said in court documents.
During the hearing of the contempt motion, the judges noted that neither the alleged contemnors nor their counsel appeared notwithstanding that a hearing notice had been served on their advocate on October 29, 2023.
"We emphasize that the application and the averments in the affidavits have neither been challenged nor contested by way of replies or appearance at the plenary hearing by the respondents and we have no reason to disbelieve them," the Appellate court said.
They said a party who is aware of a court order but elects to disobey it, is in contempt of Court.
Such conduct not only prejudices the party in whose favour the order is made but brings disrepute to and undermines the authority of the court. It is not conduct to be condoned.
According to Njiriri and his family, they were allocated the land by the defunct City Council of Nairobi in November 2002.
However, last year, Environment and Lands Court Judge Samson Okong'o ruled that the family did not genuinely acquire the title and allowed the county to repossess it.
The family then moved to the Court of Appeal where they got an order stopping the eviction.