BY SAM ALFAN.
A businessman has filed contempt of court application against Director of Health at Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Dr Ouma Oluga for disobeying a court order stopping imposition of Covid-19 restrictions for residents seeking in-person services.
Enock Aura wants Dr Oluga jailed for allegedly disobeying a court order, which suspended the restrictions.
“Dr Oluga do forthwith show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court for having expressly breached and, and acted in violation of court order issued on December 14, 2021 and served upon him and forbidding him in specific terms as a person acting at the behest of ministry of Health herein,” says Aura.
He wants Dr Oluga to be personally present in court at all times scheduled for the hearing of contempt application.
Justice Hedwig Ong’udi certified the application urgent and directed the matter to be mentioned before Justice Anthony Mrima on February 21 for further directions.
His lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, Aura said Dr Oluga issued a directive on January 5, 2022 asking for the compliance with non-existent and unlawful “directive” of December 22, 2021 by the Ministry of Health, denying in-person services to unvaccinated persons.
Aura told the court that the content of the said memo by Dr Oluga violates a court order that suspended the government directive requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination before getting in-person services.
He said Justice Anthony Mrima’s order issued in December is still in force pending the determination of his case. Kinyanjui said the order was extended when the case came up for mention.
Dr Oluga issued a memo to 17 Nairobi County sub-county medical officers of health directing that all persons seeking in-persons must show proof of vaccination.
He further argues that Dr Oluga cannot claim to be ignorant of the terms of the said order and its binding injunction against his “directive”.
He further adds that Dr Oluga has insisted on a perilous headlong and irrational pursuit of contumacious antithetical position of placing the outlawed precondition on all positions accessing Nairobi County health services as contained in his directive to Nairobi sub-county Medical health offices.
He terms Dr Oluga decision as unconstitutional Acts whose end result undermines the said court orders. “They are without any legal basis and constitute an unremitting, unacceptable and direct affront of the rule of law”, he adds.