Nyandarua County Senator John Muhia Methu during the press conference at Parliament buildings Nairobi on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
Nyandarua Senator John Methu has suffered a setback in his court bid to stop Governor Kiarie Badilisha from paying an insurance company Sh51 million for the county government’s staff medical cover.
This is after the High Court in Nyandarua struck out his application, citing filing in the wrong court station.
Mr Methu wanted the court to suspend payment to Kenya Alliance Insurance Ltd as he alleged corrupt dealings, fraud and irregular procurement. The payment was based on a mediation agreement between the insurer and the county government.
In his application before Justice Kiarie Waweru Kiarie at the High Court in Nyandarua, the Senator sought orders halting the payments until the mediation agreement’s legality and legitimacy were verified. He pleaded that the county government was at risk of incurring a massive financial loss.
But Justice Kiarie struck out the application, ruling it should have been filed at the High Court in Nyahururu, where the main dispute was lodged.
“I do not appreciate the rationale for filing this matter in this court while the case that gave rise to the petition and the preliminary objection is in Nyahururu High Court. As this is the situation, it ought to be addressed by the same judge,” said Justice Kiarie in the ruling dated April 7, 2025.
Mr Methu’s application was based on claims that if the mediation agreement is adopted, the county government would spend Sh51,207,819.
He told the court that Sh11 million had already been paid without the involvement of the county assembly and that the insurer was demanding the balance of Sh39 million. He claimed that the adoption of the mediation agreement was a “dirty scheme to misappropriate public funds”.
“The purported mediation agreement dated June 20, 2024, which is sought to be adopted, is illegal, null and void as the same is founded on fraud and plain criminal objectives and fits within the definition of corruption and economic crimes under the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Act,” he stated.
Violate constitution principles
He added that expenditure would be in violation of constitutional principles of public finance and public procurement laws.
Nyandarua County Governor Moses Kiarie Badilisha before the Public Accounts Committee at KICC, Nairobi on October 19, 2023.
The mediation process emanated from a statement of claim filed by the insurer and was conducted by Mr Francis Karoki, an accredited mediator, after the county government consulted the Insurance Regulatory Authority who advised the parties to go for mediation.
The senator indicated that the initial cost of the insurance contract was Sh236.7 million to cover 1,801 officers, but the expenditure was decreased to Sh69 million to cover 80 officers. The contract was signed in November 2023, according to his court pleadings.
“The court should make judicial notice that the medical insurance premiums paid for the 80 officers at Sh69 million speaks to each officer having an annual medical cover of Sh864,882. This is immoral when looked at against the economy of the population of Nyandarua. The mediation process was never sanctioned by the people of Nyandarua, either directly or through their representatives,” he argued.
