I did not ignore order, says Bett

By Nation Reporter
Posted Tuesday, March 15 2011 at 22:00

A Cabinet has denied disrespecting the court by ordering the demolition of a Sh121 million house despite an order barring him from doing so.

Roads minister Franklin Bett said he was not served with the court orders before the demolition started.

He was responding to claims by the owner of the house demolished in Spring Valley, Nairobi, who wants the minister held in contempt for disregarding the orders of the court.

According to businessman Mike Maina Kamau, the minister was recorded on tape running away from lawyer John Mburu, who wanted to serve him with the orders.

Obtained orders

On July 14, last year, government bulldozers pulled down buildings in Spring Valley said to be on the road reserve. The demolition was supervised by Mr Bett.

Mr Maina said that he had the previous day obtained a court order barring the demolition.

Lawyer Ochieng Oduol said the minister was served before the demolition started but he refused to accept the orders.

“The minister is not genuine with this court and this is punishable,” the lawyer said.

But Mr Bett was adamant that he was only served in the course of the demolition.

The minister is also alleged to have issued a press statement regarding the order at the time the demolition was going on.

According to Mr Oduol, the minister attacked the court in his statement.

Mr Maina, the applicant, says he is ready to prove that Mr Bett was served and is willing to play a video recording in court.

The recordings are said to have been obtained from various media houses which were on site when the demolition occurred.

However, the Attorney General has objected to the video recordings being played, saying their authenticity is in question.

According to State counsel Wanjiku Mbiyu, there was no proof that the recordings were the original copies and their authors were unknown.

Mr Oduol has accused the State of trying to stall the case.

The case resumes today and the authors of the said video tapes are expected in court.