Sakaja stares at jail term for allegedly aiding Kerich's travel to Dubai

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is reportedly facing a civil jail term over accusations of facilitating the flight of his Finance Executive Committee (CEC), Charles Kerich, to Dubai to evade a prison sentence. The accusations stem from Kerich's three-month sentence for contempt of court, issued after the Nairobi County government persistently defied a court order to pay Sh106.7 million.

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Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is now staring at a civil jail term after a law firm accused him in court of aiding his Finance CEC, Charles Kerich, in his alleged flight to Dubai following Kerich's sentencing to three months in prison for contempt of court.

The law firm Kwengu & Company Advocates filed a case at the Milimani High Court, naming Sakaja as the "principal author" of a conspiracy to defeat the court's authority. This legal action has ensnared the Governor, Kerich, and the Inspector General of Police in what the firm describes as an escalating constitutional crisis.

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The new revelations emerged in a case filed at the Milimani High Court on Friday, May 30, which terms Sakaja as the principal author of what Kwengu & Company Advocates describe as a calculated conspiracy to defeat the authority of the court, one that now ensnares the Governor, his Finance CEC, and the Inspector General of Police in an escalating constitutional crisis.

The contempt of court stemmed from the county's failure to settle a decree of Sh106,736,841.83 owed to the law firm, which was part of a larger Sh142 million owed to Foton East Africa Limited. Justice Francis Gikonyo had ordered the arrest and committal of Kerich to prison after noting that no opposition was filed against the contempt proceedings.

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On May 19, Justice Francis Gikonyo sentenced Kerich for contempt of court, after the Nairobi County persistently defied a November 2024 an order to pay Sh106,736,841.83 to the advocates from Sh142 million owed to Foton East Africa Limited pursuant to an earlier decree dated June 29, 2023.

Despite the order, Kerich remains at large and is reportedly outside Kenya. He had sought an urgent suspension of the committal order, claiming he was denied a fair hearing due to a power outage during a virtual court session that cut off his internet. However, Justice Peter Mulwa declined to certify the application as urgent and refused to suspend the sentence, setting a hearing for July 7, 2026.

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The sentence was delivered in my absence as well as my Advocate's absence because we were together in Counsel's chambers at the time of the virtual court session and had logged into court, but quite unfortunately, electricity went out, which affected the internet.