Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli faces a jail sentence of up to six months for ignoring court summons.

High Court judge Lawrence Mugambi found Masengeli in contempt of court after he repeatedly ignored summons to appear in court and explain the whereabouts of three persons feared to have been abducted by police during the countrywide protests in July by Gen Z against the controversial Finance Bill 2024.

 Masengeli had been ordered to appear in person before Justice Mugambi at 10 am yesterday but he was nowhere to be seen, prompting the judge to find him guilty of willful disobedience which he noted, undermined the administration of justice.

Instead, Masengeli had sent his deputy, Eliud Lagat to represent him.

Failure to appear

The judge warned that it was the court’s responsibility to hold people such as Masengeli to account because failure to appear in court amounts to direct contempt.

“I hereby find that Masengeli is guilty of contempt,” the judge ruled and set the sentencing for Friday.

 “The IG has shown that he is busy or unbothered and his actions show disobedience and undermines the authority of the court,” he stated.

 The judge at the same time summoned the Commandant of Security of Government Buildings/VIP Unit Lazarus Opicho to appear before him and explain why he called his bodyguard and driver to ascertain his whereabouts.

 “We need to know the reasons for such inquiry from Opicho. I reserve the sentence and explanation to Friday when Opicho will appear in court,” the judge ruled.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) had called on the court to convict and sentence Masengeli for contempt.

Through its President, Faith Odhiambo, the lawyers’ body told justice Mugambi that Masengeli should be held responsible for disobeying the court order.

She called on Justice Mugambi to jail Masengeli for six months at the Kamiti Maximum Prison and pay a fine which should be deducted from his salary.

Sixth time missing

She said that yesterday’s was the sixth time Masengeli was failing to appear in court to explain the whereabouts of three people allegedly abducted by police in Kitengela, Kajiado county.

The missing persons include activist Bob Njagi and two brothers Jamil Langton and Aslma Longton. The two brothers are alleged to have been arrested by police three weeks ago.  In his submissions, lawyer Nelson Havi condemned Masengeli for being in contempt of court orders.

“Convict the IG for contempt of court and sentence him to the highest permissible sentence,” he told the court, saying that Masengeli ought to know that he holds a public and not a personal office.

“Gilbert Masengeli has been given the right to be heard and he has refused, he must bear personal responsibility so that you impose heaviest consequences of six months and a fine to be deducted from his salary,” Havi urged the judge.

Masengeli through his lawyer Charles Mutinda maintained by sending Lagat to represent him in court yesterday, he had complied with the court’s orders issued last Thursday. He said that the law allowed Masengeli to send officers under him to represent him.

“Masengeli is in acting position. Last week he was in Lamu. He is not within Nairobi and to demonstrate the seriousness that they are dealing with the issue, he sent the deputy Inspector General to appear in court,” the lawyer pleaded while urging the court to dismiss the application to have his client convicted.

Last Thursday, Justice Mugambi had bent backwards and considered Masengeli’s plea to be given until yesterday to make himself available to the court.

Masengeli had been expected to appear in court on that day but failed to do so, explaining that he was attending a security meeting in the Coast region and was therefore unavailable.

He instead requested to be allowed to appear in court yesterday.

His lawyer Wanjiku Mwangi had told the Court that Masengeli was in Mombasa for a workshop on national security matters and sought the court’s indulgence to allow him appear on Monday.

Wanjiku said the workshop was crucial for the country’s security and was a must attend.

Even then, Justice Mugambi had taken issue with Masengeli’s non-compliance of previous orders issued by the court.

He observed that the hopes of families of the missing persons remained in the limbo as the police have not made any commitment to help them know the fate of their loved ones.

Odhiambo had on her part accused Masengeli of treating the court with contempt by failing to honour the summons.

“They are showing no intention to honour the orders by the court. The purported official duties are not more important than human lives,” she said.

She argued that it was shocking that the officer who is supposed to uphold the rule of law has violated it.

“It is open defiance of court orders from the IG. The respondents edited the order and chose when to obey it. A workshop is more important than the lives of three people,” Ms Odhiambo had told the court.