keca-2022-01032

2. There shall upon the said transfer be maintained status quo whereby the respondent shall not interfere with the title of the property in the name of Mike Muthamia Mbaya or otherwise interfere with the said title or property pending the hearing and determination of Nyeri Civil Appeal No. 325 of 2019. 3. The 1st respondent shall pay the costs of the two applications in any event.” 3. The applicant states in his adavit in support of the application that despite demand, the 1st respondent has in blatant contempt and disregard of the aforesaid consent order failed, refused and/ or neglected to retransfer the suit property to him. The thirty (30) days period ended on April 9, 2020, and the application for contempt was made 487 days after lapse of the agreed period. 4. The 1st respondent led a replying adavit and written submissions in response to the application. In the said documents, the 1st respondent dwells on the background to the dispute over the suit property that was before the High Court before an appeal to this Court was led but does not address the core issue in the application, that is, her failure to comply with the aforesaid consent order. 5. The 1st respondent argues, inter alia, that the applicant’s interest over the suit property was unlawfully acquired and that therefore the applicant had not approached this Court with clean hands and should not be granted the orders sought. 6. As we have already stated, the 1st respondent did not explain to this Court why she refused to comply with the consent order issued by this Court on March 10, 2020. The 1st respondent did not deny knowledge of the said order or allege any coercion. 7. The backdrop to the consent order is that on March 10, 2020 two applications led by the applicant against the respondents came up for hearing before this Court (Ouko, (P), W. Karanja and P. Kiage, JJ. A.). The rst one (dated March 7, 2019) sought stay of execution of the judgment of the High Court dated February 7, 2019, and in particular stay of transfer of the suit property. On March 18, 2019 and August 8, 2019, this Court had ordered that the status quo as regards the suit property be maintained pending substantive hearing of that application. However, in violation of the order for maintenance of the status quo, the 1st respondent purported to transfer the suit property to herself. This action provoked the second application dated December 4, 2019 vide which the applicant sought to have the 1st respondent committed to civil jail for contempt of court. The application was compromised through the consent of March 10, 2020 whereby the 1st respondent was to retransfer the suit property to the applicant within thirty (30) days from the date of the order. The 1st respondent has however refused to do so. 8. We are satised that the 1st respondent is in blatant contempt of this Court’s order of March 10, 2020. Prior to that, she had also deed the Court’s orders of 18th March and August 8, 2019 for maintenance of the status quo. In Shimmers Plaza Limited v National Bank of Kenya Limited [2015] eKLR this Court stated: “ We reiterate here that court orders must be obeyed. Parties against whom such orders are made cannot be allowed to trash them with impunity. The courts should not fold their hands in helplessness and watch as their orders are disobeyed with impunity left, right and centre.” 9. This Court has power to punish persons for willful breach of its orders. Without obedience to court orders there would be anarchy and lawlessness in society and the court cannot countenance that. https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2022/1032/eng@2022-09-23 2

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10. We nd and hold that the 1st respondent is guilty of contempt of this Court’s order dated March 10, 2020 and order her committed to civil jail for four (4) months. We hereby direct that the Ocer Commanding Chogoria Police Station or any other police station within the precincts of the 1st respondent’s residence to arrest and escort the 1st respondent, Dinah Kawira Nkabo, to Meru Chief Magistrates’ Court for issuance of the committal documents. 11. The Deputy Registrar of this Court is hereby directed to execute all the necessary documents and instruments and eect transfer of the suit property, Ntima/Igoki/2778 to the applicant. The 1st respondent shall bear the costs of this application. It is so ordered. This ruling is been delivered in accordance with rule 34(4) of the Court of Appeal Rules 2022, Nambuye, J.A. having retired from service. Dated and delivered at Nairobi this 23rd day of September, 2022. D. K. MUSINGA, (P) ................................... JUDGE OF APPEAL S. ole KANTAI ................................... JUDGE OF APPEAL I certify that this is a true copy of the original Signed DEPUTY REGISTRAR https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2022/1032/eng@2022-09-23 3

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