The high court has declined to allow an application by former Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome to overturn the judgement which found him liable for the use of force by police during last year’s Gen Z protests.
Justice Roselyn Aburili dismissed the application by Koome which sought to set aside the judgement of Justice Jairus Ngaah.
Koome had argued that he was not served with the petition thus the judgement was issued without him responding to the petition.
However, Justice Aburili ruled that there was enough evidence to show that Koome was served but he chose to ignore the case until when the judgement was delivered against him.
She says Effecting service of court documents upon the Inspector General of Police in Kenya involves
certain procedural sensitivities and security considerations, particularly in contexts of public
unrest, such as strikes, protests, or riots.
Therefore, to expect that a process server would track down an Inspector General of Police to hand over to him the court documents personally, may not be practicable.
“This is because of the fear or public perception of police hostility which can discourage individuals or process servers from approaching such a high ranking
official,” the court noted.
Justice Aburili said there is also a Security risk and Process servers might feel unsafe approaching armed officers or stations for fear of being harassed.
“Accordingly, the court finds and holds that the application dated 17th January, 2025 seeking to
set aside the judgment delivered on 31st December 2024 lacks merit. It is hereby dismissed,” the judgement ruled.
