Kajiado County’s senior finance officials are under mounting legal pressure after the High Court directed the devolved unit to factor a long-standing multimillion-shilling debt into its 2026/2027 budget, in a move aimed at enforcing compliance with a decades-old court award.
The dispute stems from a 17-year legal battle between the Kajiado County Government and Kilimanjaro Safari Club Limited, the owners of Amboseli Lodge, following what the hotelier describes as an unlawful eviction in January 2006. The then local council allegedly removed the operator from its premises and allowed a competing business to take over operations nearby, triggering years of litigation and arbitration.
Arbitration proceedings later awarded damages to the hotelier, but the settlement has remained partially unpaid, leading to repeated court interventions. The matter has since escalated into a fresh confrontation over compliance with the court decree.
According to submissions before the Milimani High Court, the hotelier maintains that the debt has grown significantly due to accumulated interest and currency fluctuations. However, Kajiado County’s legal team argues that the outstanding balance currently stands at approximately Sh292 million, following an initial payment of Sh100 million.
During recent proceedings, Justice William Musyoka directed the county’s legal representative to ensure that the executive formally incorporates the outstanding obligation into the current budgeting cycle. The court emphasized that failure to do so would not be acceptable given the long history of delays in settling the award.
The court has set September 21, 2026, as the next mention date, by which Kajiado County is expected to demonstrate compliance with the directive and show evidence of budgetary allocation for the debt.
In a stern warning, the court indicated that continued non-compliance could trigger contempt of court proceedings. The hotelier has been granted liberty to pursue such action should the county fail to meet the deadline.
If initiated, contempt proceedings could expose senior county finance officials to potential civil jail terms, marking a significant escalation in enforcement. The court noted that it would no longer tolerate what it described as “cat-and-mouse” delays or repeated assurances without tangible settlement plans.
Source Attributed: Nation Newspaper