DP Ruto Allies Murkomen And Kihika To Pay Heavily For Dragging Jubilee To Court

Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen and his Nakuru counterpart Susan Kihika will now bear the cost of dragging the Jubilee party to court over a coalition agreement with Kanu.

The two leaders allied to Deputy President William Ruto moved to court in May after they were stripped of their roles as Majority Leader and Chief Whip respectively seeking orders to overturn the merger.

Jubilee party Chair Nelson Dzuya and Secretary-General Raphael Tuju were listed as respondents in the case.

However, the Senators backtracked and withdrew the case.

Offended, Dzuya, Tuju and Kanu sued the lawmakers and asked the court to condemn the two to shoulder their cost of hiring lawyers and filing responses.

In an application filed before justice James Makau, Jubilee, Dzuya, Kanu and Tuju told the judge that they had incurred unnecessary cost of hiring lawyers to defend themselves.

Read: Murkomen and Kihika Move to the High Court To Block their Ouster

They argued that the Senators had sued for personal reasons and therefore should be punished.

But the lawmakers argued that they challenged the matter in court due to public and therefore deserved leniency from the court.

The court heard that they withdrew the case on May 16 an indicator that they were retreating from challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to enter into a coalition agreement with Kanu.

The judge ruled that the two lawmakers should pay half of the costs for all respondents, an amount that will be determined by the Deputy Registrar of the court.

“The first to fourth respondents be and hereby awarded costs at 50 per cent of costs as shall be taxed by the taxing master,” the judge ruled.

Read Also: Murkomen Scolds Uhuru For Depicting Utter “Selfishness” In Chase For Good Legacy

In the petition challenging the Jubilee merger with Kanu, Murkomen and Kihika argued that the President had no numbers to warrant their removal from office and had to rely on the support from the Gideon Moi party.

Dzuya and Tuju, through their lawyers, dismissed the claims saying that the leaders moved to court without considering internal dispute resolution mechanisms.

“The petition is therefore premature, mischievous, vexatious and an abuse of court process,” Jubilee said in its court papers.

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