Justice Chitembwe woes escalate over corruption claims

High Court Judge Said Chitembwe’s land dispute case will be heard afresh after the apex court agreed there were irregularities on how he handled the case.

Court of Appeal judges Kathurima M’inoti, Jamilla Mohammed and Sankale Kantai ruled last week in a complaint that was filed before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for the removal of Justice Chitembwe from office over how he heard and determined the case in 2018.

The dispute was between Pacific Frontier Seas Ltd against Okapi Limited Estate and Jane Mutula Kyengo.

Chitembwe sued the commission, stating that the complaint could not be heard as there was a pending appeal over his judgment.

The court of appeal said the appeal by Pacific was merited.

“The appellant (Pacific) and the second respondent (Okapi) have raised other issues which ought to have raised a red flag that all was not well in the manner in which this dispute was conducted and determined,” they observed. On April 18, 2018, Chitembwe delivered a judgment which was read on his behalf by Justice Weldon Korir.

He held that three parcels of land registered in the name of Pacific and Okapi were part of the estate of Peter Werner, an alleged shareholder in the two companies.

Wener died on December 10, 2014, in Diani, Kwale, without a will. His widow, Jane Mutulu, petitioned the court for letters of administration a year later, listing the three properties as part of the estate.

Mutulu stated that she was the deceased’s sole surviving dependent.

Okapi, on the other hand, appeared in court and urged the court to cancel the letters, claiming ownership of two properties listed by the widow. The court overturned Mutuku’s grant and scheduled a hearing for both parties.

Mutuku and Okapi agreed on June 15, 2015, to have the two properties sold and the proceeds held in a joint interest-earning account in the name of their lawyers.

The consent, however, had the property claimed by pacific.

At the same time, it stated that the Kwale County police commander had the authority to evict anyone from one of the percels and have it occupied by Mutulu and Daniel Nahenza Mangale.

On September 14, 2016, Pacific petitioned the court to revoke the grant and prevent Mutulu and Okapi from interfering with the property.

The Court of Appeal framed six issues for decision, one of which was whether Mutulu was a Wener’s beneficiary or dependent.

“It appears that sight was lost of the straightforward question in the summons for revocation of the confirmed grant, namely whether the court should revoke the confirmed grant because of fraud and deliberate inclusion, among the assets of the deceased, of the suit properties that were alleged to belong to the appellant and the second respondent.”