Isiolo Police Station OCS Peter Ndirangu on Friday found himself in trouble for releasing Isiolo County Secretary Dr Ahmed Galgalo, who had been arrested on Thursday evening over the county’s failure to pay pending bills, before arraigning him in court.
Isiolo Principal Magistrate Evanson Ngigi hit at the Chief Inspector, who enforced the arrest, for overstepping his mandate by releasing Dr Galgalo under unclear circumstances.
The County Secretary alongside two senior finance officers is accused of reportedly breaching a consent order entered into between the county government and contractors in August 2019 that required that the Governor Mohamed Kuti administration pays Sh80 million by December 15, 2019 and the remaining Sh83 million by September 15, 2020.
The police boss told the court that the county secretary requested to be released to appear in court on January 11 and that even signed the Occurrence Book agreeing to the local arrangement.
The contractors Lawyer Ken Muriuki insisted that police had no power to release suspects in the event a warrant of arrest emanates from civil matter and that ‘only court had the powers’.
“The county secretary action amounts to contempt of court. It is not for him to give directions but to adhere to the court order. It is utterly shocking that he even opts to appear in court on Monday and not the subsequent day after the arrest,” Mr Muriuki said.
The court directed that Dr Galgalo be arrested and arraigned tomorrow alongside Finance Executive Abdinassir Hajj Daud and Chief Officer Peter Ngechu for breaching the consent.
“Execute the warrant and bring the three to court. It is upon the court to decide their fate and that is not a police issue,” Magistrate Ngigi told the OCS.
Mr Hajj and Mr Ngechu were in August last year spared committal to civil jail after spending a night in police cells.
Isiolo Chief Magistrate Samuel Mungai, while delivering a ruling on application by contractors to have the duo jailed, gave them last chance and ordered the county to ensure the consent order is fully complied to and the matter sorted once and for all.
The Isiolo court on August 21, 2020 ordered the remaining Sh83 million be cleared by September 15 last year but Mr Muriuki said over Sh30 million was yet to be paid.
The three officers risk being jailed for failure to comply with the August 2020 court directives.
