A High Court in Nairobi has ruled that top officials of the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) are not guilty of contempt of court charges.
Lady Justice Roseline Aburili of the Milimani High Court found that there was no evidence that KPL had been served with an order barring it from organizing league matches.
The court cleared KPL CEO Jack Oguda, chairman Ambrose Rachier, and five other officials of the charges. According to Lady Justice Aburili,
This court having found that there was no service of knowledge of the injunction upon the respondents and that there was selective justice inciting them for contempt.
The judge added that the respondents were not in disobedience of the court order and therefore declined to grant the order sought by the plaintiff applicant seeking to have them jailed. The motion was dismissed, and the respondents were found not guilty, with each party ordered to bear their own costs.
Following the ruling, Oguda expressed relief, stating that
The ruling today was in our favour because we confirmed that we did not receive the injunction and as KPL we respect the rule of law and that’s why we have not held any matches since then. We now hope the court will lift the court order so that we can go to the field.
Context and Response ¶
The ruling came after the football federation sought to have the seven officials jailed for six months in a continuing supremacy battle. However, the court extended the order stopping KPL from running its 2015 Premier League until Monday, when a ruling on the application to have it lifted will be made.
Notably, FKF vice president Robert Asembo and their lawyer Eric Mutua were absent from the hearing, with the latter sending a junior attorney instead. Suspended FKF officials, including former vice president Sammy Shollei and Nairobi delegate Dan Shikanda, attended the hearing but will be heard next week.
Consequences ¶
The ruling means that over 100 football enthusiasts who attended the hearing will miss the league for the third week. Lady Justice Aburili criticized FKF's contempt charges, stating that they had ill motive and discriminated against KPL officials despite the injunction also addressing the Kenya Football Referees Association and Sports Kenya.
The recovered account cited reporting by Capital FM.
