The county government of Mombasa has moved to court seeking to set aside orders that allow the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) to fence off a disputed parcel of land.
Through lawyer Lucy Momanyi, the county government argues that it was not given adequate notice to respond before the court allowed the national broadcaster to build a fence around the land.
“It was necessary that the applicant ought to have been given prior adequate notice of KBC’s intention to seek for such orders,” said Ms Momanyi.
KBC has also filed an applica tion seeking to have Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, the county secretary and the lands executive jailed for allegedly disobeying a court order allowing it to put up the fence.
Refund Through lawyer Protas Saende, KBC also wants the court to order that one of the conditions for setting aside the alleged contempt be immediate refund of Sh1.9 million spent on fencing the land located at the VoK area of Mombasa.
Yesterday, Justice Anne Omollo gave the parties seven days to consult on the proposals by KBC. “Rather than spend time on applications, we are of the view to take the main hearing of the suit for determination of the dispute,” Mr Saende told the court.
In the main suit, KBC is seeking a declaration that it is the owner of the property and that Oldbay Ltd, a second defendant in the case, was wrongfully and unlawfully registered as the owner of two plots in dispute.
The broadcaster is also seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the county government and Oldbay Ltd from interfering with its possession of the land or carry out any dumping.
The case will be mentioned on February 6.
