Activities at the Siaya high court this morning came to a standstill when members of the Communist party of Kenya stormed the premises, demanding the ruling of a case where Gem Member of Parliament, Elisha Odhiambo has sued a senior party official for defamation. And Siaya high court judge, lady justice Roselyn Aburili was forced to abruptly leave the court when the leader of the Communist party of Kenya, Mr. Booker Ngesa walked into the court together with a few of his supporters and headed straight to the dock. Court orderlies who were inside the courtroom tried to bock members of the public from entry but were overpowered as the public sat quietly waiting for the session. With the judge out of the courtroom, a court official who was seated in a bench reserved for advocates walked into the dock where Booker was and told him that the judgment for the his case had been postponed to 4.00 PM where it will be delivered virtually.
The CPK leader then walked outside where he told the gathered public their push to have elected leaders accountable to the public was on. “We do not want elected leaders to make a mockery of our judicial system” he told the public outside the court precincts adding that elected leaders must be ready to face corruption charges if they are found pilfering public funds. He urged the courts not to accept to be used by corrupt leaders to cleanse their names. Earlier, the demonstrators brought business along Siaya streets to a standstill as they marched with placards while denouncing corruption. Their march was brought to a halt outside Siaya high court when the police charged at them, leading to a pandemonium as the demonstrators and members of the public ran helter-skelter.
Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo moved to court in March this year, seeking orders to bar his political rival Booker Ngesa from publishing any further defamatory statements against him. In a suit filled at Siaya Law Court through Orwenjo Kibet and Khalid Advocates, Odhiambo is seeking an injunction against Ngesa, the party leader of the Communist Party of Kenya, alleging that a letter circulated in various social media platforms on September 3, 2020, linked him to alleged theft of funds which was to go towards building an administration block in Masinde Primary School in Gem Constituency. The letter indicated that the MP allegedly embezzled the funds as the construction would have taken only Sh. 100,000 as opposed to Sh. one million that was used in completing the project.
The defendant, Ngesa was accused of organizing and conducting demonstrations within Gem Constituency where he publicly uttered defamatory statements directed to the MP. The legislator also alleges that Ngesa attended an interview at a vernacular radio station, Ramogi FM where he further accused the MP of corruption and embezzlement of public funds. The MP sought a temporary injunction to restrain Ngesa from publishing or uttering any defamatory statement directed towards him. He also pleaded with the court to grant a restraining order against the defendant from holding demonstration in the constituency concerning him.