Nahashon Karuti a Meru-based lawyer, on Tuesday, September 17 sued the County Government of Meru, seeking a Ksh 3,000 compensation after his car was clamped, over failure to pay parking fees.
The lawyer is accusing county enforcement officers of trespassing inside his car and unlawfully detaining it as he had parked it along Kenyatta Street on October 3, and 12, 2018.
In his argument, the lawyer stated that his car was parked in an area that was not designated to the county government and thus, he wasn't supposed to pay the parking fee.
Karuti wants Meru Chief Magistrate Hannah Ndung’u to term the county’s action illegal and also award him general and aggravated damages.
He then noted that he had paid the Ksh 50 parking fee plus Ksh 500 fine after the car had been clamped for eight hours.
Through his lawyer J.G. Gitonga, Karuti stated that he had parked his car along the street to buy some items in a nearby shop and returned shortly to find the vehicle clamped.
He further stated that the action by the county enforcement officers made him use a taxi to run his errands, hence causing him a lot of inconveniences.
Karuti added he pleaded in vain with the officers to unclamp the vehicle, adding that he felt coerced to pay the Ksh 550.
The Kiraitu Murungi-led county through its lawyer, Joel Mutuma, wants the case struck out, claiming that Karuti did not write a demand letter seeking a refund of his money before filing the suit.
When questioned on how he arrived on the Ksh 3,000 figure the petitioner stated that he had summed the Ksh 550 fine and the amount he had spent hiring a taxi on the material day.
He, though, claimed to have lost the receipts from the taxi rides and could not table the documents to support his expenditure.
