The Environment and Land Court has fined Kisumu City Manager Abala Wanga Sh 500,000 for contempt of court after finding he defied an order barring the county government from interfering with a disputed property, warning that further disobedience could result in imprisonment.
Justice E.K. Wabwoto on Wednesday ordered Wanga to pay the fine within 30 days or serve 30 days in civil jail after upholding an earlier finding that he had disobeyed a court order issued in December 2023.
The contempt finding stemmed from a ruling delivered on July 18, 2024, in which the court held that Wanga, who led an eviction and demolition exercise as Kisumu City Manager, had violated an injunction restraining Kisumu County officials from repossessing, demolishing or interfering with property known as Kisumu Municipality/Block 5/25.
The injunction was issued on Dec. 15, 2023, after Calvin Ariko Lukio, Lawi Raburu Javan and another plaintiff sued the County Government of Kisumu over ownership and possession of the land.
Despite being served with the order the same day, county officials carried out demolitions and evicted tenants from the property on December 19, 2023, prompting the plaintiffs to seek contempt proceedings.
In mitigation before the court, Wanga said he had acted within his administrative mandate and argued that the disputed property had accumulated land rates arrears of about Sh 18 million.
He also said some structures on the land posed security risks and that affected occupants had been relocated, except for one church.
Wanga told the court the county had used its own funds to replace some facilities and had attempted mediation with the plaintiffs before negotiations collapsed. He pleaded for leniency and asked the court to pardon him.
The plaintiffs opposed a lenient sentence, arguing that court orders must be obeyed regardless of disputes over ownership or unpaid land rates.
Their lawyer said Wanga had not purged the contempt because the plaintiffs had not been restored to possession of the property as ordered by the court.
In his ruling on sentence, Wabwoto said public officials were expected to uphold the rule of law and described the breach as particularly serious because the demolition took place only four days after the injunction had been issued and served.
“The rule of law would be an empty promise if those entrusted with public power were at liberty to disregard the orders of the courts,” the judge said.
The court rejected Wanga’s argument that unpaid land rates and alleged illegal structures justified the demolition, saying such issues should have been raised before the court rather than used as grounds for disregarding a valid order.
Wabwoto said the plaintiffs had still not been restored to possession of the property nearly two years after the court directed that control of the land revert to the position that existed before the demolition.
The judge declined to impose an immediate custodial sentence, citing Wanga’s expression of remorse, his status as a first-time contemnor and efforts by the county to mitigate the effects of the demolition.
He warned, however, that any further breach of court orders could attract harsher penalties, including imprisonment, and said the July 2024 order restoring possession of the property remained in force.
The court also awarded the plaintiffs the costs of the sentencing proceedings
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