A new judge has taken over the hearing of two petitions related to ownership of multi-billion assets belonging to the Muslim Association Mosque Committee, Eldoret.
The petitions, one against association trustees and the other against state agencies among them The Attorney General and Land Registry were being handled by High Court Judge Erick Ogolla.
But following his transfer last year, Justice Robert Wananda has now taken over the hearing.
The two matters came up for mention on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, for further directions.
The petitioner in the two matters Jamal Diriwa Mungatana told the court that he had already presented his case and that it was time for the defendants to respond.
“We were at the hearing stage of this matter and we came today for further directions from the court. I was already done with my submissions and it is time for the defendants,” Diriwo told the court.
The judge however requested that he be given a month to allow notes taken by his predecessor to be typed before the matter can proceed to the defendants’ submissions.
In the petition, Diriwo, a Muslim youth leader is seeking court orders permanently stopping 9 trustees of the Muslim Association Mosque Committee, Eldoret from holding any position.
He accused them is mismanagement and misappropriation of the committee assets.
Mention for the matter has now been set for March 14, 2023.
Access to Information Act
In the second petition, the Muslim Youth leader has sued the Attorney General, National Lands Commision (NLC) as well as the Eldoret Land Registry for failing to provide him with information related to assets that the Muslim Association Mosque Committee, Eldoret own.
He filed the case in 2022, after attempts to get the information several times failed.
Diriwo accused the state agencies of contravening the Access to Information Act and wants the court to direct that they be compelled to provide the information.
“I requested the information for over a year but they never provided it to me. Even after the intervention of the Commission of Administrative Justice (The Ombudsman), nothing was forthcoming,” he said.
Meanwhile, the respondents have been given up to March 14, 2023, to file their responses on the matter.
