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NAIROBI: The High Court was forced to adjourn a case touching on Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala after it emerged he was unwell.
Justice Eric Ogola Wednesday ordered Balala to appear in court on February 2, in an application seeking to have him committed to civil jail for allegedly disobeying orders issued by the judge.
Through State Counsel Mwangi Njoroge, the High Court heard that Balala could not respond to court summons due to ill health.
Balala was expected to show cause why he should not be sent to civil jail after he allegedly failed to release a mineral shipment that had been seized at the Mombasa Port. This was despite the court ordering the shipment seized in September to be released.
Balala has now been summoned to court over the matter twice, the first time having been summoned by Justice Francis Gikonyo on December 5, last year.
He was summoned alongside the Commissioner for Mines and Geology Shadrack Kimumo after Stema Alloys Enterprises filed a suit seeking the release of a ship carrying malachite ore confiscated and detained by the mining ministry.
The company through lawyer Fred Athuok went to court aggrieved by the fact that their goods had been held by the ministry for over 40 days, adding that the State was hesitant in releasing them as had been ordered by the court.
Failure to comply with the court order, Athuok told Justice Ogola, was leading to the wasting away of their goods.
He urged the court to commit Balala and Kimumo to civil jail for not less than six months.
