• Judge Ongeri ruled that the NPS and AG had violated his property rights by detaining his car in June 2011 and exposing it to more than six years of damaging elements
• Besides paying the amount, she also ordered that the police service and the AG pay for Mwau the cost of the suit and interest at court rates
Image: FILE
The National Police Service and the Attorney General have been ordered by the court to pay former Kilome MP John Harun Mwau Sh8.4 million as compensation value of his Range Rover.
Milimani High Court Judge Asenath Ongeri ruled that the NPS and AG had violated Mwau's property rights by detaining his car in June 2011 and exposing it to more than six years of damaging elements.
Besides paying the amount, she also ordered that the police service and the AG pay for Mwau the cost of the suit and interest at court rates.
This is to be paid from the date of filing suit until the payment in full.
"Judgment be and is hereby entered in favour of the plaintiff (Mwau) against the defendants (NPS,AG) in the sum of Sh8.4 million plus costs of this suit and interest at court rates from the date of filing this suit until payment in full," the judge ruled.
The court heard that the vehicle was detained on June 23, 2011 after a shooting incident.
Before that, at around 10pm, Mwau's driver and bodyguard were driving the car on City Hall Way to Parliament to pick him up.
They had just passed Garden Square Restaurant when the car was shot by unknown persons in another car, which then sped away.
The police then visited the scene, photographed the Range Rover and drove it to Central police station.
Mwau said he visited the station on July 26, 2011 together with his driver to collect his vehicle, but they were told that the Commissioner of Police had inspected it and directed that it not be released until further notice.
The next day, the businessman wrote, seeking the release of the vehicle, but he got the aforesaid reply, in a verbal reply.
He told the court that despite his vehicle being confiscated and detained without his consent on that June night, it was exposed to the elements of weather and human intervention, rendering it unusable and beyond repair.
This was done in bad faith, he said, adding that the NPS knew that considering that it was a Range Rover, the car required constant and continuous running of the engine and constant maintenance and repair.
This is to ensure that no serious mechanical damages and disrepair were caused.
The court also heard that at the time of seizing the Land Rover, the driver's side door window was intact save for a bullet hole, but by the time of viewing it at the station on June 24, the window had been shattered and was missing.
The NPS and AG called one witness, Sgt Daniel Njuki, who confirmed the shooting incident and the confiscation and detention of the car.
He said on the day after the shooting, then Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere inspected the subject motor vehicle and ordered that both the driver and the bodyguard be charged with giving false information.
However, in a letter dated March 29, 2018, the Director of Public Prosecutions said the proposed charges as directed by the police commissioner were untenable.
This is owing to the fact that the vehicle had been shot at and there were various independent witnesses to the shooting.
The DPP directed that the inquiry file be closed.
Njuki also told the court that Mwau wrote several letters, requesting for the release of the vehicle.
On May 17, 2018, the national police wrote a letter to him, requesting him to avail himself and collect the same.
Upon deliberation, Judge Ongeri found that the actions of the NPS were unlawful, unjust and were done in bad faith.
"I find that the Defendants (NPS and AG) did not give any explanation for the detention of the motor vehicle," she added.
The judge also found that Mwau ought to have moved to court early, seeking for the vehicle's release, as he was in constant communication with the police on the same.
This was also pointed out by the police, who stated that they were waiting for directions from the then Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecution.
Mwau had sought Sh8.4 million compensation for the value of the vehicle and Sh3.6 million in respect of loss of user amounting to the special damages.
The judge did not, however, grant the latter.
"I find that loss of user has not been proved by production of receipts and the same is not payable. The claim for loss of user of Sh3.6 million must, therefore, fail," she ruled.