CS Joho escapes jail term in contempt of court case against Doshi
Cabinet Secretary of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Hassan Ali Joho.
Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho will no longer face six months in jail for contempt of court.
This is after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Mr Joho and George Ogutu, a Mombasa ward representative, who have been facing off in court against tycoon Ashok Doshi and his wife Pratibha.
Judges Agnes Murgor, Jessie Lesiit and George Odunga on Friday overturned an April 12, 2020 order by Mombasa Environment and Land Court judge Sila Munyao that Mr Joho and Mr Ogutu should have been personally served with the application.
In their ruling, delivered in Mombasa, the three judges also ordered the Doshis to pay the costs of the appeal.
“The [Doshi couple] failed to prove on the legal standards required that [Mr Joho] was indeed served with the said application. Consequently, we allow this appeal, set aside the order made on February 12, 2020 dismissing the application dated May 17, 2019 together with the consequential order and substitute therefor an order allowing the said application,” read the judgement.
In 2020, Justice Munyao had ordered Mr Joho and Mr Ogutu be jailed for six months for contempt of court. That order has now been quashed.
“In this case, on our own re-evaluation of the evidence placed before the learned judge, we find that whereas the appellants ought to have been personally served with the application citing him for contempt, the 1st and 2nd respondents failed to prove, on the legal standards required, that he was indeed served with the said application,” read the judgement.
Mr Doshi and his wife had filed an application seeking to have Mr Joho and the MCA cited for contempt of court for disobeying a court order restraining the Mombasa County government from encroaching on a parcel of land they own.
In their application, Mr Doshi and his wife wanted the two summoned to court to show cause why they should not be sent to civil jail for six months for disobeying court orders. In the contempt case, the two are seeking a permanent injunction restraining the county administration from demolishing the perimeter wall or any other structure erected on the land. They argue that the county government has threatened to evict them in order to return the land to Changamwe Secondary School.
The Doshis also argue that allegations that the land was grabbed from the school are unfounded, as the title and ownership of the previous owner, from whom they bought the land, has been upheld by various courts.
