Former Labour CS Kazungu Kambi was granted reprieve after the courts declined to allow a petition seeking to have him declared bankrupt.
Kambi was taken to court by lawyer Gicharu Kimani who had represented him in an election petition in 2018 and accrued a bill of Ksh 809,595.
In his defence, Kambi who was appointed to the National Lands Commission by President Uhuru Kenyatta argued that he now had a stable source of income and would afford to clear the debt in monthly installments.
Kazungu landed the appointment in October 2019, a few months after losing the election in 2017, and with huge legal costs to foot.
Gicharu had stated in court that a cheque of Ksh 300,000 from his client dated April 30 returned unpaid.
Justice Reuben Nyakundi sitting at the High Court in Malindi gave the former CS an extension of 60 days to repay the debt.
The lawyer was also allowed to auction Kambi’s property to offset the arrears before declaring him bankrupt.
“I will open up leave for the petitioner to either attach the debtor’s salary or pursue other modes of execution of the decree before resorting to petition for a bankruptcy order,” Justice Nyakundi ruled.
The former CS had vied to unseat Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi in the 2017 General Election but was not successful. He disclosed that he had raised a Ksh60 million war chest from friends in his bid to occupy the office, yet while being vetted to the NLC job, he disclosed that he was worth Ksh50 million.
Supporters believed the money was a major boost to Kambi's campaign kitty ahead of a tough battle against Orange Party incumbent Amason Kingi and Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung'aro of Jubilee Party.
Kingi won by a landslide garnering 213,174 votes against Kambi’s 43,544 votes.
Kambi then filed an election petition but lost, with Justice Weldon Korir ordering Kambi to meet the Ksh4 million cost of the petition.
In his ruling, Judge Korir noted that evidence present before the court had no merit to nullify Kingi’s victory.
Kambi’s lawyer told the court that the bill of costs was taxed by the Deputy Registrar of the High Court and a certificate of costs dated February 14 for Ksh1,404, 595 was issued against the former CS.
