Court declines to set aside application seeking contempt proceedings against SEZ bosses
By Zipporah Ngwatu, April 28, 2026The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Chelule Langat and Chief Licensing Officer Ahmed Ibrahim Issack, are facing contempt of court proceedings.
In an application filed at a Nairobi High Court, the Compact FTZ Development Limited wants the two officials to appear before the court and show cause why they should not be committed to civil jail.
According to the court papers, the two senior officials have failed to implement court orders issued on March 9, 2026, directing them to issue the licences to Compact FTZ Development Limited, among other directives.
When the matter came up for hearing before Justice Francis Gikonyo on Monday, April 27, 2026, CEO Langat and Chief Licensing Officer Issack, through their lawyers, sought to have the orders set aside.
However, the court declined to entertain their applications and stated that it would deal with the Compact FTZ Development Limited application for contempt of court.
Further, Justice Gikonyo warned counsels representing the contemnors that the consequences for failing to comply with the court orders will be dire.
“There will be dire consequences to the contemnors for failing to comply with the court’s order,” Justice Gikonyo ruled.
Through lawyer Chris Mutuku, Compact FTZ Development Limited argues that despite writing a follow-up letter to the Special Economic Zone dated March 15, 2026, after the court issued the orders, there was no compliance.
“Notwithstanding the said service, the 3rd Respondent (Special Economic Zone) and the contemnors (Langat and Issack) have resolutely and unreasonably refused to issue the said licences, without offering any explanation or reason for their refusal to comply,” part of the application reads.
Lawyer Mutuku avers that the refusal and failure to issue the licences by the special economic zone are deliberate and malicious, as the authority and, by extension, CEO Langat and CLO Issack are seized of a legal advisory from the 2nd respondent in the matter (the attorney general).
“That this brazen contempt and disregard of court orders is wilful, spiteful and calculated at frustrating the business of the applicant (Compact FTZ Development Limited),” part of the application reads.
Notably, he states that his client continues to suffer heavy losses and damages on account of the authority and its senior official’s failure to abide by the law.
According to a supporting affidavit by Compact FTZ Development Limited engineer and project manager Eugene Kariuki Ngigi, the authority issued the operator and developer licences for them and Ziara SEZ Limited but has not issued the enterprise licence for Compact Inland Logistics SEZ Limited.
Engineer Kariuki states that upon writing to the authority, the CEO and the chief licensing officer, requesting the issuance of the licences, there was still no positive response, and instead, the CEO and the licensing officer wrote back introducing new conditions for the issuance of the licences.
Justice Gikonyo directed that the matter be mentioned on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.