PCEA Secretary General Rev. Robert Waihenya and the Moderator of the General Assembly, Rev. Patrick Mutahi Thegu have been found guilty of contempt of court in a ruling by High Court Judge Stella Mutuku.
The two were found guilty of knowingly and deliberately ignoring a court injunction barring them from installing David Nderitu Ndumo as the Church’s Honorary Treasurer in April 2024.
The order had been issued by Justice Janet Ongeri in Nairobi.
“I am satisfied that the court order issued on 8th April 2024 was disobeyed and the disobedience was deliberate given that both Respondents were aware of the court order stopping the installation until the matter in court was determined,” read part of the ruling by Justice Mutuku.
Pleadings by Rev. Waihenya claiming to have distanced himself from the installation did not move the court after it was established that the cleric did not leave the Assembly where the installation was taking place.
“The 1st Respondent maintains that he did not take part in the installation of the Honorary Treasurer, but the other office bearers. He was nonetheless present. He did not distance himself with the process or leave the General Assembly, if that was the only way he could have evaded taking part in the installation proceedings,” noted Justice Mutuku who heads the Civil Court division.
In her far-reaching ruling Lady Justice Mutuku cited precedence including, Nyamogo & Another v Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation [1994] KLR 141 as well as Kenya Tea Growers Association vs Francis Atwoli & Others [2012] eKLR among others.
She cited Black Law’s Dictionary to define contempt as ‘conduct that defies the authority or dignity of a court.
Because such conduct interferes with the administration of justice, it is punishable usually by fine or imprisonment’.
Church member Benjamin Njoroge Mburu had moved to court to seek contempt of court orders against the two and the Registrar of Societies after Ndumo was installed the PCEA Treasurer in April 2024 against the said court orders.
The injunction against his installation was occasioned by pleadings before justice Ongeri that had argued that Ndumo was not fit to be the Church’s Honorary Treasure since he had a pending case before the Cooperative Tribunal where 15 guarantors had sued him for failing to repay an initial debt of Sh5.3 million that had since accumulated interest and had soared to over Sh8.4 million.
During the contempt of Court hearing, Josephat Simeon Mutunga, the Process Server, told the court, on cross-examination, that he personally served the Legal Officer of the PCEA and Rev. Mutahi with a physical copy of the court order on 8th April 2024.
He stated that the Legal Officer assisted him by calling the Rev. Waihenya and that the Legal Officer could not reach Rev Mutahi and also stated that his efforts to serve Rev. Mutahi with the court order physically on April 8, 2024 were unsuccessful because he did not manage to trace his whereabouts; that he served him the following day, the April 9, 2024 at 9.33 a.m. via WhatsApp message.
The two will appear in person for mitigation and sentencing at a time and date to be fixed by the Court.
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