Suspended Nairobi County Finance CEC Charles Kerich has been ordered to surrender himself at the Industrial Area Remand and Allocation Prison after the High Court declined to suspend his three-month jail sentence for contempt of court in a ruling delivered on Tuesday, July 7.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The court directed Kerich to present himself to prison authorities immediately to begin serving the sentence, bringing to an end his latest attempt to stop the jail term that was imposed in May.

Justice Francis Gikonyo declined to grant orders staying the sentence, meaning the contempt conviction and the three-month imprisonment remain in force pending any further legal process.

Kerich was jailed after the court found that he had deliberately failed to comply with orders requiring Nairobi County to pay about Ksh107 million in legal fees owed to a law firm.

📌 What You Need to Know

The money relates to a long-running legal dispute arising from a judgment involving a local company with the amount having already been certified for payment through a Certificate of Order Against the government issued in November 2024.

In the latest orders issued on Tuesday, the court specifically directed Kerich to report to the Industrial Area Remand and Allocation Prison to begin serving the sentence after refusing to suspend the punishment.

The contempt case dates back several years after the law firm in question accused Nairobi County of repeatedly ignoring lawful court orders despite being served with the relevant documents.

In his earlier ruling delivered on May 19, Justice Gikonyo held that Kerich had failed to obey the court despite having knowledge of the orders and sentenced him to three months in prison without the option of paying a fine.

Following the conviction, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja suspended Kerich from his position as Finance CEC.

Sakaja then appointed Ibrahim Auma Nyangoya to act in the role as the county sought to ensure continuity in its finance department.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke