The High court has sentenced Defence PS Saitoti Torome to six months in civil jail for contempt.
Justice Joseph Sergon issued the sentence on Friday, saying Torome disobeyed court orders to pay Sh17,257,930 to a family that gave its estate to the government
in 2006.
"The respondents have failed to appear in court and mitigate as to why he has failed to honour court orders, having been cited for civil jail for contempt earlier," the judge said.
Last week, Sergon told the court he would issue a ruling in the respondents' absence since they did not send a representative.
Eunice Makori and Hellen Makone sued Torome in 2009 after they were not compensated for the surrender of the late Johnson Onduko Makori's parcel of land in Mombasa.
Noting they were the
administrators and Makori's personal representatives, they said the government should have paid them Sh9.2 million with interest for the property surrendered in 2006.
The mother and daughter noted
they were awarded compensation in a judgment delivered in June 2015. They said
Torome, IG Joseph Boinnet
and the then Attorney General Amos Wako acknowledged receipt of suit papers.
Makori said she personally visited the ministry and made numerous requests to the PS, but that they fell on deaf ears.
"That forced my daughter and I to apply for a miscellaneous civil application in 2016...to compel the respondents and the ministry to settle the sum," their affidavit states.
Leave was granted, the matter heard and the judgment delivered on June 30,
compelling the PS to pay Makori's estate a total of Sh17,257,930, including costs and interest.
The petitioners had also asked the court
to issue a warrant for the arrest of the principal secretary. This was done, with directions to the Inspector General of Police, but they were not honoured, they said.
Makori noted that being a senior citizen, she requires medical attention so the refusal to pay has subjected her family to poverty and suffering.
The
PS filed an affidavit in June acknowledging he is the accounting officer in the ministry but said he, as an individual, does not owe the applicant any money.
He added any liability or expenditure incurred against the government could only be defrayed from
money provided by Parliament.
"Parliament has not provided my ministry with adequate funds to settle the applicants' claim," he said.