However, High Court Esther Maina was not persuaded by their appeal and, in her judgement delivered in October 2022, upheld the decision of the magistrate's court. Undeterred, NCPB returned to the High Court and made two more applications challenging the arbitrator's verdict and the validity of the invoice. One application was filed before Justice Odunga (then High Court judge) and another before Justice Joseph Kamau. "We are satisfied that the finding of the High Court and this Court about the arbitration proceedings could not possibly be ignored by the trial court as well as the High Court. "..the court (High Court) ended up framing non-issues for determination, for instance, whether judgments of this Court and the High Court were binding on the trial court and whether they were in rem or personam...The court in determining the question as to whether it was bound by the said judgments addressed a non-issue given that the issue that was before the court was whether a criminal charge would be based on a payment resulting from a court order, which order had not been set aside," read the judgment.

Source: Daily Nation October 13, 2024 12:42 UTC