Acting IG Gilbert Masengeli has been sentenced to six months imprisonment for contempt of court.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi ordered him to surrender to the Commissioner General of Prisons to serve his sentence.
In the event he fails to surrender himself to prison, the CS for Interior must take steps to ensure he is committed to prison to serve his sentence.
Masengeli had previously ignored six court summons, and in an instance sent his deputy to represent him in the hearing, claiming official engagement.
Masengeli is expected to account for the whereabouts of three individuals—Jamil Longton, his brother Aslam Longton, and activist Bob Njagi—who were reportedly abducted by individuals believed to be police officers on August 19, 2024, during the Gen Z protests.
“At the end of this, we will ask the court to do two fundamental things; to convict the acting IG for contempt of court and to sentence him to the highest permissible legal consequence,” Lawyer Nelson Havi, who is representing the petitioners, said about Masengeli’s brazen defiance.
“We want Gilbert Masengeli not to hold public office because it is not his personal property. Masengeli was attending a concert. In Kenya, a concert is treated as a matter of national importance. How shameful!”
Public office holders have been sentenced before but the court orders are yet to be enforced like in the case of former DCI boss George Kinoti, and former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i. Will Masengeli’s case be any different?
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