This archive report was first published on 9 July 2019.
On July 5, 2018, a court ordered the Kenya Cultural Centre to reinstate Edwin Gichangi, the acting chief executive officer, pending a hearing and determination of a dispute.
However, Nicholas Moipei, the chairman of the Governing Council, allegedly disobeyed the court order and illegally dismissed Gichangi.
Justice Stephen Radido found Moipei guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to a fine of Sh200,000 or 60 days in jail.
Moipei had claimed that there was no order restraining the termination of Gichangi's employment, but the court ruled that this assertion had no factual or legal backing.
The court also noted that Moipei had received the order and had even written to Gichangi informing him that he had received the court order and was consequently lifting the suspension.
Despite this, Moipei invited Gichangi to attend a disciplinary hearing on July 9, 2018, after a previous hearing scheduled through a letter dated June 19 had aborted.
Gichangi declined to attend the hearing, arguing that there was a court order in force and he would not submit to the jurisdiction of the disciplinary panel when there was an order.
Moipei had defended their move, saying that there were new grounds for taking disciplinary action against Gichangi. However, the judge ruled that this would have constituted a fresh disciplinary process, which was never done.
