- Oanda was arrested following a warrant that Milimani Judge Jairus Ngaah issued in contempt of court proceedings.
- He spent the night at the Industrial Area Prison ahead of Friday's court session.
Image: FILE
The High Court has ordered the release of Mombasa County Finance CEC Evans Oanda from custody after the county undertook to settle Sh68 million it owes a car dealer.
Oanda was arrested following a warrant that Milimani Judge Jairus Ngaah issued in contempt of court proceedings.
He spent the night at the Industrial Area Prison ahead of Friday's court session.
The judge suspended the warrant against Oanda and any other accounting officer of Mombasa County after it undertook to settle the debt.
The court at the same time set conditions that the county settles the Sh68 million debt by monthly instalments of Sh5 million.
The first instalment will commence on September 30 and will continue until payment is made in full.
In default of any one instalment, the Judge said the order suspending the warrant of arrest will be set aside and the accounting officer of the county shall be arrested and committed to civil jail for six months.
He however indicated that parties are at liberty to engage and enter into negotiations on how the instalments can be reviewed upwards if not for anything else to mitigate the cost the taxpayer will be exposed to as a result of the strict term of settling the amount.
The matter before the court and in particular the question of settlement of the decretal sum has been pending for close to three decades.
"I agree with learned counsel for Associated Automobile Distributors (K) Limited (decree holder) that the longer the decree remains outstanding the more taxpayer is exposed to paying exorbitant amount arising from the accrued interest of the principal sum," said Ngaah.
The judge in issuing the orders took into account that the county government of Mombasa is making an effort to settle the outstanding debt.
He mentioned that in June this year, the county made a payment of Sh2.9 million to the decree-holder.
"And this morning, Advocate Kelvin Mbogo, the counsel for the county government of Mombasa, has informed the court that the county government is willing to make a monthly payment of Sh5 million until payment in full," said the Judge
"In my humble view, this is not a ridiculous proposal. If the county is going to keep its word," he said.
The judge was however weary of the fact that previous consents have been made but the county has renegade on them before.
He considered this when suspending the warrant but at the same time issuing conditions on how the amount would be paid.
He directed the matter to be mentioned in court on November 5 in a bid to consider the progress made after payment of the first instalment.
In the case, Associated Automobiles Distributors Limited sued the defunct Municipal Council of Mombasa for allegedly failing to pay for five vehicles sold to them almost two decades ago.
The company said it sold and delivered the vehicles as per the council’s request and order in the 1998-99 financial year. It also supplied spare parts and rendered services.
The company at the time was demanding a balance of Sh13,541,815.
The money has since gone up due to interest.
The council was replaced by the Mombasa County government when devolution took effect in March 2013.