City lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has been ordered by court to release three vehicles he seized from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) in a bid to recover Ksh750,000 owed to him.
Ahmednasir seized the state agency’s vehicles in October last year after the management failed to honour a decree to compensate him for damages caused to his luxurious car’s windscreen.
The vehicles seized included two Toyota Prados KBW 919E and KCP 535K and a Pick-up bearing registration number KCT 764Y.
But in a recent ruling Justice Chacha Mwita stopped the lawyer from auctioning the vehicles ruling that the law restricts attachment of KeNHA property.
“In the end, having considered the twin applications, submissions and the law, it is this court’s finding that section 68 of Kenya Roads Act, restricts attachment of KeNHA’s assets and therefore, no attachment should have taken place,” ruled Justice Mwita.
Read: KeNHA To Pay Lawyer Ahmednassir Ksh750,000 After Stones Broke His Car’s Windscreen
The judge, however, directed KeNHA Director General to pay the money owed to the lawyer popularly known as “Grand Mullah” without further delay.
KeNHA had moved to court to challenge Ahmednasir’s move to seize its vehicles terming the move irregular and unlawful based on Section 68(a) of the Kenya Roads Act.
The agency through assistant director Fredrick Oyunga Onyango told the court that Ahmednasir’s award was in its current budget saying the order came after its budget for the year had been approved.
The Authority submitted that the Act prohibits attachment or execution against properties of the agency but there is a mode provided for demanding awards.
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Ahmednasir had opposed the application and urged the court not to entertain it.
The lawyer had in mid-October 2020, through a tweet, threatened to auction the vehicles to recover the “debt” following a ruling delivered by a Kajiado court in August 2020.
In the ruling, KeNHA was ordered to pay the lawyer Ksh750,000 after his Bentley Bentyaga’s windscreen was damaged during road repairs on Nairobi Namanga Road.
The money amounts to damages caused, labour for repair work and costs of the case which was filed on November 27, 2018.
“The court today rightly held that Public authorities like the Kenya National Highways Authority have a duty of care to road users when they do a shoddy job. KENHA was compelled to pay the cost of my car’s windscreen valued at Ksh.750,311,” he tweeted.
Read Also: Lawyer Ahmednasir Threatens To Auction KeNHA Vehicles Over Damaged Bentley’s Windscreen
The lawyer argued in court that the contractor who had been hired by KeNHA failed to erect signposts on the repair of the road, or even close it completely leaving motorists exposed to danger.
He said that the negligence by KeNHA and the contractor exposed road users to danger. His car was damaged on August 30, 2018, on his way from Arusha, Tanzania.
KeNHA filed a notice of appeal saying it was dissatisfied with the judgment.
KeNHA also said it was dissatisfied with the damages of Ksh750,311 awarded to Ahmednasir. The agency maintained that lawyer did not prove that he suffered damages to the required standards.
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