The Inspector General of Police has been ordered to arrest Nyandarua assembly acting speaker Zachary Njeru and two other officials for contempt of court.
Justice Hillary Chemitei directed IG Hillary Mutyambai to pursue Mr Njeru, Mr Edinald Kingori and Ms Elizabeth Wanjiku and escort them to prison to start a 60-day jail term. The ruling was due to a long-running dispute pitting some members of the county assembly against Speaker James Ndegwa.
The judge said the dispute had blown out of proportion and was now hurting residents as the speaker, the executive and the assembly members were reading from different scripts.
Mr Chemitei had on October 13 found the trio guilty of court contempt and ordered them to hand over the mace and the speaker’s car within 48 hours. He also fined them Sh200,000 each, failing which they would serve two months in prison.
But despite the order, Mr Ndegwa said the trio hired goons who locked themselves inside the assembly and prevented members’ access. He said the orders directing them to reopen the assembly and return the mace and the speaker’s official car were disobeyed.
Sufficient sanctions
“In the premises, I find that the three contemnors have breached the orders and directives of this court issued in October 2021 and this court cannot countenance,” ruled the judge.
He noted that his earlier warnings through pronouncements that any disobedience of the court orders be met with sufficient sanctions were ignored.
Mr Ndegwa, the chairman of the County Assemblies’ Forum, and a section of MCAs have been embroiled in a dispute after he was reinstated by the court following his impeachment as speaker.
Despite his reinstatement, his efforts to access the premises have been thwarted, forcing members to break the doors to ensure it is in operation.
In an application that was dismissed by Justice Chemitei, Mr Njeru said the speaker was so conflicted that he could not raise the quorum required to transact assembly business.
Six months
He urged the court to refer the matter to the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee, expressing concern that the case has been pending in court for the last six months, greatly impacting the business of the assembly.
The dispute has taken a political dimension after Mr Ndegwa declared that he would run for governor at the August election.
Mr Ndegwa has continued to intensify his attacks on Governor Francis Kimemia, accusing him of corruption and other ills affecting the county.
But Mr Njeru said Mr Ndegwa cannot impose himself on the county as exhibited on October 5, when MCAs boycotted assembly sittings. There was chaos, he said.
On the mace, Mr Njeru said it was being kept by the sergeant-at-arms whenever the house was not sitting as per the assembly standing orders.
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