Busia Governor Otuoma found guilty of contempt for defying court orders
Busia Governor Otuoma found guilty of contempt for defying court orders
The Environment and Land Court at Busia has found Busia Governor Paul Nyongesa Otuoma guilty of contempt of court for deliberately defying orders issued by the same court.
In a ruling delivered by Judge Boaz Olao on December 17, the court directed that both Governor Otuoma and the 2nd Respondent, Peter Khasamule Odima, the County Executive Committee (CEC) member for Lands, must, within 14 days, execute and file an undertaking confirming strict compliance with all orders issued on June 27, 2024, and July 10, 2024.
The court further ordered that the two must appear in person to show cause why they should not be committed to civil jail for disobedience.
“They shall appear before this Court in person on March 2, 2026, to show cause why they should not be committed to civil jail for such period as the Court may deem fit for being in contempt of the orders issued by this Court,” the judge ruled.
The contempt proceedings arose from a petition filed by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah Okoiti on June 19, 2024, against the County Executive of Busia, the CEC Lands, and Mutiso Menezes International Consultants.
The petitioner alleged that public land occupied by the Busia Vocational Training Centre (BVTC), Soko Posta Market, and the Agricultural Training College (ATC) had been converted to private ownership, facilitating what he termed as unlawful allocation.
Contemporaneously, the petitioner sought conservatory orders to suspend any transactions or developments on the disputed land.
Justice Cherono Enock issued temporary conservatory orders on June 27, 2024, which were later extended by Justice Olao on July 10, 2024, pending the hearing of the petition, specifically directing that “the Respondents shall suspend any further activity on the suit land.”
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In their defence, the 2nd Respondent, Peter Khasamule Odima, filed a replying affidavit dated June 23, 2025, claiming that all activities on the land pre-dated the court orders and denying any allocation or development by the Governor.
The affidavit asserted that the petition was “grounded on false allegations, is mischievous, misconceived, ill-advised, an abuse of the Court process and an attempt to use this Court for political expediency.”
Judge Olao observed that Governor Otuoma, however, did not personally respond to the motion, nor did he file a replying affidavit.
The court noted that Khasamule had, in a letter dated May 27, 2024, admitted that “the current parcel of land where the Vocational Centre is domiciled has been re-allocated to Busia County Referral Hospital (BCRH) for expansion,” and could not now contradict his own statement.
“He cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time,” the judge said.
The court further found that both respondents were fully aware of the prohibitory orders yet “deliberately and contemptuously continued to disobey those orders even after the Court went out of its way to caution them from doing so.”
Judge Olao emphasised that obedience to Court orders is not optional.
He concluded that Senator Omtatah had placed before the court sufficient evidence to satisfy the legal test for contempt.
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