Six senior KTDA officers fined for disobeying court orders

Six senior officials from the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) have been fined Ksh.400,000, failure to which they risk a seven month jail term for disobedience of court orders.

The six are Kennedy Omanga, Francis Macharia, Peter Kinyua, Eston Gakunga Gikore, Lerionka Tiamapati, Stephen Maina Githiga.

This came despite the six having filed an urgent application before the Supreme Court to stay their sentencing.

They had pleaded with the Court of Appeal judges to suspend mitigation and sentencing on the basis of the filed application to stay finalization of the contempt proceedings.

However on Thursday, a three-judge bench comprising of William Ouko, Fatuma Sichale and John Otieno Odek ordered that they pay a fine of Ksh.400,000 or serve the seven months in jail.

The six had been found guilty of contempt of court after they were accused of proceeding with an election at the Kiiru Tea Factory which had been stopped.

They allegedly interfered with the leadership and management of the 8,000-member factory team in Murang’a County.

They are accused of orchestrating the removal of Kiiru Chairman Chege Kirundi and company secretary Bernard Kiragu on November 27, 2017, against express court orders that barred them pending completion of a leadership wrangles court suit.