COURT CONTEMPT HALTED TEMPORARILY

Jan 28, 2015 William Adoyo News, Regional 0

The court battle between Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his former official Major (Rtd) Erastus Nyamori took a new twist after the Court of Appeal temporarily halted proceedings of contempt of court against him.

The Appeals Court on Thursday granted the Governor a chance to be heard on the contempt of court case that had been filed by his former County Executive Member (CEM) in charge of Public Works, Roads and Transport Major (Rtd) Erastus Nyamori at the Industrial Court in Kisumu with regard to a preceding case in which the latter had accused Obado of sacking him illegally.

The Industrial Court had ruled that Obado reinstates the sacked officer before subjecting him to the due process of termination of his serving contract.

Lady Justice Hellen Wasilwa had ruled that the official was not sacked procedurally and ordered his reinstatement.

In an application to stop issuance of a warrant of arrest through his lawyer Roger Sagana, Obado stated:

The learned judge erred in law and in facts in arriving at a misdirected finding that the respondent (Major Nyamori) was still the CEM when it was clear that he had been replaced during a mini-reshuffle that was affected by Obado.

Amongst the reasons the Governor gave to stop the contempt of court proceedings included the argument that,

Holds a substantive post and cannot politically and constitutionally afford the consequences of being cited for contempt of the court order.

The application was postponed for hearing on February 12, 2015 after the respondent of the case Major Nyamori prayed for the more time to prepare for the hearing.

A bench of three Appeal judges led by Justice David Maraga will preside over the application.