Former Interior CS Fred Matiang’I has been ordered to enter an appearance in a case where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Nyamira and Kisii counties sued the government over a Sh6.5 billion compensation.
Matiang'i who was sued in 2022 alongside former Interior PS Karanja Kibicho and then Head of Public Service Joseph Kanyua have been directed to file their responses in the case.
The matter was initially filed at the High Court in Nairobi but has since been transferred to the High Court in Kisii which is nearest to the petitioners.
The petition was filed by Rev Bishop Brethren Nemwel Momanyi on behalf of IDPs from Kisii and Nyamira counties. The clergyman is their patron.
They want Matiangi and Kibicho to explain the whereabouts of the Sh6.5 billion that was set aside by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration in 2017/18 national budget for IDP resettlement.
The petitioners alleged the cash ended in embezzlement, disarray, corruption, cartelship and was paid to non-existent IDPs and boda boda riders.
The former CS and his Principal Secretary have been sued because the compensation cash was under their docket.
Justice Chacha Mwita of the High Court in Nairobi on September 23, 2024 directed that the respondents be served ahead of their appearance in court.
They should appear before justice Teresia Odero at the High Court in Kisii.
Documents related to the case can be accessed through the court registry.
“Take further notice that unless you enter appearance within 15 days from the date hereof, the suit will be heard and determined your absence notwithstanding,” Matiang’i and his co-respondents were told in a notice of service placed on the dailies on November 20, 2024.
