Firm asks court to declare Governor Abdulswamad unfit to hold office over Sh58M debt

An insurance firm has petitioned the high court to declare Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir and his deputy Francis Thoya unfit to hold office for failure to obey court orders directing the county to pay Sh58 million owed to the company since 2013.

Disney Insurance Brokers Limited wants the two cited for contempt of contempt for failing to pay Sh58, 958,263 which the county was ordered to pay to the company for services rendered between 2011 and 2012.

The company says the failure by the two to pay up the debt as ordered by the court in 2019 is purely attributable to negligence, carelessness and ill will against the firm.

In an affidavit to support the petition, the company's Managing Director (MD) Charles Kanyi Kuiyuka says the two have violated Article 10 of the constitution which provides for accountability, credibility, transparency, equality and the rule of law.

Kuiyuka says the county and its two officials' (Nasir and Thoya) refusal to comply with court orders undermines the rule of law, which requires that all persons and state organs act within the confines of the law.

In his petition filed by his advocate states that the two have denied Kuiyuka his right to property including the right to acquire and own property under Article 40 of the constitution and prays for various remedies.

"This honourable court to declare that (Nassir and Thoya) have violated Article 10, 27,40, 201 of the constitution and are therefore unfit to hold the offices of governor and deputy governor of the county of Mombasa," reads one of the prayers.

Kuiyuka is seeking redress for the alleged prolonged failure of the two top officials to ensure that the petitioner and other suppliers are paid.

The businessman accuses the two county leaders of discrimination for selectively making payments to suppliers and leaving out others unpaid, despite continuously receiving revenue allocation from the National government.

"This conduct demonstrates their disregard of their constitutional duty to manage public resources in an open and accountable manner," Kuiyuka says.

The orders were made by the Mombasa High Court in 2019 when Thoya was the Mombasa Finance Executive and he was later cited for contempt alongside two others for failure to pay the money.

The firm in February 2022 offered to reduce the claim by over 50 per cent to allow the county to pay as the company was facing financial hardships.

The company received Sh15 million which is the only amount of money that the firm has been paid.

Kuiyuka seeks the court's intervention so that he can get justice by getting paid even as the county remains mum about the matter.