Kenya: The Kiambu County Police Commander risks being committed to civil jail for refusing to effect court orders against a company owned by nephews of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
High Court judge Jonathan Havelock has directed the police officer to appear in court on June 5 for the hearing of the case filed against him by a businessman who bought the farm previously owned by Kenyatta’s relatives.
Judge Havelock, sitting in Nairobi, allowed Bidii Kenya Limited to commence contempt of court proceedings against the county police commander for disobedience of court orders directing the eviction of Kenyatta’s relatives from the farm.
Bidii Kenya Ltd, through its director Rahul Bid, wants the officer to be committed to civil jail for six months for refusing to effect court orders made in February this year.
The judge had ordered the county commander to supervise the eviction of Muiri Coffee Estate Ltd from land bought by Bidii Limited.
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Mr Bid told the court that the county commander had refused to evict Muiri Coffee Estate Limited associated with Kenyatta’s nephews from the 443-acre farm in Kiambu.
Public auction
Bidii is seeking possession of the farm, which it bought through a public auction conducted by Kenya Commercial Bank.
The bank auctioned the property to recover a loan owed to it by Benjoh Amalgamated that is associated with Ngengi Muigai and his brother Kung’u Muigai.
The bank and Benjoh had been involved in several legal battles over a disputed Sh1.8 million loan given to the firm between April 1989 and 1990. Benjoh offered two properties in Kiambu and Nyandarua as security.
The bank sold the coffee estate for Sh70 million to Bidii Ltd.
The company bought the property in September 2007 but has been unable to take possession of it.
Judge Havelock on February 13, 2014, directed Muiri Coffee Estate to vacate the land and deliver it to Bidii Kenya Ltd.
The judge further ordered the county commander to supervise the eviction of Muiri from the land.
