Reprieve for Telkom bosses as court stops prosecution in land dispute

Senior officials of Telkom Kenya have won a reprieve after the High Court stopped their prosecution over a disputed 60-acre land on Ngong Road that was compulsorily acquired by the government.

High Court judge Chacha Mwita stopped the planned private prosecution of the officials including chief executive Mugo Kibati saying they were likely to be presented for plea-taking, yet they have moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the same.

The judge said there was no guarantee that the Court of Appeal would hear and determine the appeal before the prosecution against them commences.

“This leaves a factual situation where they may be called upon to take a plea anytime, which will change the character of their case as they await the hearing and determination of their appeal. This, in my view, is real and foreseeable loss or prejudice that cannot in any way be remedied if the stay is declined and eventually the appeal succeeds,” said the judge.

The officials said following the dismissal of their case last October, Postel Housing Cooperative Society Ltd led by their chairman Henry Belsoi was likely to institute their prosecution.

A Nairobi court had allowed officials of the society to privately prosecute the former and current directors of Telkom over the expansive parcel of land.

Telkom Kenya submitted that they have since lodged an appeal after their petition—seeking to stop the prosecution— was dismissed last year.

The company argued that the officials were likely to be arrested and charged based on false claims, because, the Environment and Land Court had determined the ownership of the property in its favour and directed the government to compensate the company for compulsorily acquiring it.

Postel Housing Co-operative Society Ltd intended to privately prosecute current and former directors of Telkom over a land deal brokered in 1993.

But Telkom through senior counsel Kamau Karori challenged the criminal charges against its directors arguing that the case was an abuse of the court process, given that the same matter was pending before the commercial division of the High Court.

Further, Mr Karori questioned why officials of the cooperative society had to wait for more than 28 years to institute the charges.

“This is contrary to the objective of the criminal justice system and is an abuse of the court process,” he argued.

Besides Mr Kibati, those cited in the private prosecution were former Telkom CEO, Mickael Ghossein and directors—Dorcas Kombo, Eddy Njoroge, Jinaro Kibet, and Sayyid Said.

The firm argued that the targeted directors were not board members ahead of 2011, and therefore not involved in dealings touching on the property.

Mr Njoroge joined the board in 2011, Mr Kibati (2018), Mr Said (2016) and Ms Kombo, and Mr Kibet were appointed directors in 2017.

The society claimed that the defunct Kenya Post and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) excised part of its land and transferred it to Postel Housing Cooperative Society Ltd on January 19, 1993, for the construction of houses for its workers.

Later Postel Housing Cooperative Society Ltd allegedly entered into an agreement with Mr Francis Mburu for the construction of the homes but which later, collapsed.

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