Italian investor jailed for defying court order in Watamu land dispute
According to Watamu Men Fridays Limited, the complainant in the suit, Lenzi, and several associates proceeded to create three separate land titles while the matter was still awaiting determination.
A 71-year-old Italian national, Roberto Lenzi, has been handed a three-month jail term after the Environment and Land Court in Malindi found him in contempt for disregarding orders that halted any subdivision of a disputed parcel of land in Watamu, Kilifi County.
The court heard that Lenzi, who oversees operations at Seven Island Watamu Limited, went ahead with changes to the property despite a clear order stopping any form of subdivision. The resort, situated along the Watamu coastline, is among the developments linked to the disputed land.
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According to Watamu Men Fridays Limited, the complainant in the suit, Lenzi, and several associates proceeded to create three separate land titles while the matter was still awaiting determination.
Their lawyer, Jackline Chepkwony, told the court that parcels Kilifi/Jimba/1719, Kilifi/Jimba/1720 and Kilifi/Jimba/2021 were registered in defiance of a directive issued by Justice Mwangi Njoroge in October 2019.
Chepkwony argued that Lenzi’s actions undermined the authority of the court and insisted that a strong sanction was necessary to reinforce compliance with judicial orders.
She said the conduct displayed showed little regard for the ongoing proceedings and urged the court to impose a sentence that would discourage similar behaviour by other parties involved in land disputes.
In his ruling, Justice Njoroge said he had taken Lenzi’s mitigation into account but found the breach to be deliberate. He then ordered that Lenzi pay a Sh300,000 fine or serve a custodial sentence of three months should he fail to do so.
“Having considered all the submissions in mitigation, I find that I should sentence Lenzi. I therefore sentence Roberto Lenzi, the director of Seven Island Watamu Limited, to a fine of Sh 300,000 and in default, he shall be imprisoned for a term of three months, and it is so ordered,” he said.
The judge stressed that court orders must be obeyed regardless of the status or position of any litigant.
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