BY SAM ALFAN.
Safaricom chief executive officer Peter Ndegwa and senior telco officials will sentenced to civil jail for disobedience of court orders.
The CEO alongside directors Dilip Pal, Christopher Kirugia, Winifred Ouko, Raisibe Morathi, Sitholizwe Mdalalose, Rose Ogega, Francesco Bianco and former CEO Michael Joseph are expected to be arraigned before Embu Court for sentencing over the failure to pay a litigant more than Sh7 million.
Embu Senior Principal Magistrate Henry Nyakweba directed the arrest of the directors of the country’s largest mobile company and they be presented before him on 27th of March for sentencing.
The Magistrate declined to lift a warrant of arrest on Monday, issued against Ndwega and other Safaricom directors.
The decision comes a few days after High Court rejected a similar application.
The court order dated 9th December 2022, directed the Officer Commanding officer (OCS) Parklands Police station to arrest CEO Ndegwa alongside other named directors and produce them before Embu law Courts for sentencing.
“This is to command you to arrest the said CONTEMNORS and upon arrest, the directors be arraigned before this court for sentencing as soon as will be reasonable practicable and in any event NOT later than 10th January 2023,” stated warranted of arrest issued by Embu Senior Principal Magistrate.
The OCS was further directed to return the warrant as soon as it is executed.
“You are further commanded to return this warrant as soon as it is executed with an endorsement certifying the day on which and manner in which it has been executed, or the reason it has not been executed,” states the warrant issued on 9th of December 2022.
Ephantus Mbogo Njuki wants the officials punished, accusing them of refusing to comply with a court order, directing them to pay him the money.
