Kerich's US illness claim fails to sway court

Suspended Nairobi Finance CEC Charles Kerich. [Courtesy]

After spending weeks outside the country instead of surrendering to serve a court-ordered civil jail sentence, suspended Nairobi Finance CEC Charles Kerich has returned to court for the fourth time seeking to halt his imprisonment.

Kerich claims he is too ill to return to Kenya because he is undergoing specialist treatment in the United States.

However, hospital records filed before the Milimani High Court paint a different picture, showing only a single emergency room visit for a headache, treated with Panadol (acetaminophen) before he was discharged within two days.

The latest twist emerged on June 25, 2026, when Justice Peter Mulwa certified Kerich’s application urgent, but declined to suspend the execution of the three-month civil jail sentence or bar his arrest upon returning to Kenya.

Instead, the judge directed that the respondents, Kwengu & Company Advocates, Gold Lida Limited, Gitonga East Africa Limited and Nairobi County Government, be served, with the application set for hearing before Justice Francis Gikonyo on July 7. “Application is certified urgent, but I am not persuaded to grant any interim orders at this stage,” Justice Mulwa ruled.

The decision leaves in force the committal order issued on May 19, when Justice Gikonyo sentenced Kerich to three months in civil jail for contempt of court after he failed to comply with orders requiring him to pay Kwengu & Company Advocates Sh106,736,841.83.

Although the court directed the OCS Central Police Station to execute the warrant, Kerich has neither surrendered nor been arrested.

In his latest application, filed from the United States, Kerich says he developed serious health complications requiring continuous specialist treatment abroad. “I developed serious health complications necessitating urgent and continuous medical attention abroad,” he states in an affidavit sworn before a New York notary on June 23, adding that imprisonment would jeopardise his recovery.

Advocate Appel Kwengu, however, dismissed the claim, arguing that Kerich’s own medical records undermine his case. He said the documents consist of a single-page discharge summary from NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens Hospital dated June 16, showing Kerich was diagnosed with a non-intractable headache, treated with over-the-counter acetaminophen. The accompanying work excuse covered only two days. “The chasm between a transient headache attended to at an emergency room and resolved within two days, and the grave illness deposed to in the affidavit demonstrates that the medical ground is a fabrication contrived to evade the committal order,” Kwengu argues.

He further contends that Kerich travelled to the United States not for treatment, but on a pre-arranged government training programme.

Travel clearance issued by the Office of the Deputy President on May 12 authorised his trip to Boston from May 25 to June 12, shortly after he was sentenced.

He also questioned the authenticity of Kerich’s affidavit, noting it was sworn before a New York notary on June 23 while its annexures were commissioned by a Nairobi Commissioner for Oaths on June 24. “The affidavit is, therefore, commissioned by two different officers, in two different countries, on two different dates, rendering it irregular and of doubtful authenticity,” he argues.

Kwengu has asked the court to dismiss the application with costs and execute the committal order immediately, arguing Kerich should not be heard while “remaining in flight and in defiance of court orders”.

Justice Mulwa’s ruling leaves Kerich exposed to arrest should he return to Kenya before the High Court hears his application on July 7.