{"id":100661,"date":"2024-10-30T07:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T07:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/10\/30\/drama-as-kisumu-county-employees-shield-finance-executive-from-arrest-in-contempt-case\/"},"modified":"2024-10-30T07:03:10","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T07:03:10","slug":"drama-as-kisumu-county-employees-shield-finance-executive-from-arrest-in-contempt-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/drama-as-kisumu-county-employees-shield-finance-executive-from-arrest-in-contempt-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Drama as Kisumu county employees shield Finance Executive from arrest in contempt case"},"content":{"rendered":"

KISUMU, Kenya, Oct 30 \u2014 Drama unfolded at the Kisumu High Court on Tuesday evening after Kisumu County Executive Committee Member for Finance, George Okong\u2019o, narrowly avoided imprisonment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justice Shariff Mwanaisha had just handed Okong\u2019o a suspended sentence and fined him Sh200,000 for contempt of court.<\/p>\n

Justice Mwanaisha postponed the two-month sentence to December 19, allowing the county time to pay its pending bill to a contractor, Majock Construction Firm, owed Sh16 million.<\/p>\n

The county told the court it had already paid Sh8 million and requested a review of the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

The court also ordered the release of the county\u2019s acting Chief Finance Officer, Martin Okode, suspending his five-month jail term. <\/p>\n

\nJailing of Finance Executive, Chief Officer to plunge county into chaos: Kisumu tells court<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

Okode had been serving the sentence at Kodiaga Maximum Prison and had paid a Sh200,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Unpaid fine<\/h2>\n

Following Justice Mwanaisha\u2019s adjournment for the day, police officers attempted to arrest Okong\u2019o prompting a dramatic confrontation. <\/p>\n

Okong\u2019o\u2019s security team, alongside other county employees, prevented them from detaining the finance officer, leading to a scuffle outside the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Okong\u2019o then headed to City Hall, where the office of Governor Anyang Nyong\u2019o is located, while police insisted on his detention until the fine was paid.<\/p>\n

Deputy Governor Dr. Mathews Owili, who was present, appealed to the officers to allow payment of the fine without arresting Okong\u2019o.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appeal to you, please, leave the CEC alone. The fine [is being] paid,\u201d he pleaded.<\/p>\n

At the court, Justice Mwanaisha allowed Okong\u2019o to express his gratitude for the suspension of his sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Lady, the county was in a crisis, and I am grateful that you have given us time to address the issue at hand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Deputy Governor Owili also addressed the court, commending the ruling and assuring compliance with court orders to pay the contractor. <\/p>\n

Owili noted that the county\u2019s delays in paying contractors stem from delayed disbursements from the National Treasury.<\/p>\n

The protracted legal battle between the Kisumu County government and Majock Construction Company dates back to 2013, during the transition from local authorities to county governments.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KISUMU, Kenya, Oct 30 \u2014 Drama unfolded at the Kisumu High Court on Tuesday evening after Kisumu County Executive Committee Member for Finance, George Okong\u2019o, narrowly avoided imprisonment. Justice Shariff Mwanaisha had just handed Okong\u2019o a suspended sentence and fined him Sh200,000 for contempt of court. Justice Mwanaisha postponed the two-month sentence to December 19, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}