A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Kisii has ordered officials of Kisii National Polytechnic to appear in court on June 24, 2026, for mitigation and sentencing after finding them in contempt of court.
Chief Magistrate Bernard Omwansa ruled that the institution’s officials had failed to obey court orders and had also failed to attend court as directed.
The respondents had been ordered to appear before the court and explain the steps they had taken to comply with orders issued on April 22, 2025.
However, they neither attended court nor provided satisfactory evidence of compliance.
“The explanation offered for non-attendance is unsatisfactory and is rejected,” said Omwansa.
The court further found that there were no valid orders from the High Court stopping the contempt proceedings and directed that the execution process should continue.
The complainant Evans Morara, through his advocate Andrew Masolo, welcomed the ruling and said court orders must be respected.
“The court had raised orders against the respondents who happen to be the principal of Kisii National Polytechnic and the chairman of the governing council. They did not appear before court to explain why they had not obeyed the court orders,” said Mr Masolo.
He added that the ruling should serve as a lesson to people who think court orders can be ignored.
Masolo said the dispute arose from a judgment delivered in April 2024 directing the institution to pay Morara Sh14 million and reinstate him as coordinator of the SIFA project.
Morara, who was the Head of Agriculture and Environmental Science at the institution, expressed satisfaction with the ruling.
“I want to register my satisfaction from today’s ruling. It restores our confidence in the rule of law and constitutionalism in the country,” he said.
Morara explained that the case arose from a contract linked to a donor-funded agricultural project worth 3.5 million Euros that he helped secure for the institution.
The court warned that if the respondents fail to appear on June 24, warrants may be issued against them and other legal measures taken to enforce compliance.
