The High Court in Kisumu has ordered Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) to stop removing railway scrap from any of its stations, the Daily Nation reported. The interim conservatory order will stay in force until the court rules on a case filed by the Centre for Litigation Trust. The court certified the application as urgent.
The court also told KRC, its board, the police and the other parties in the case to preserve all physical and electronic evidence on the removal and transport of the railway materials. The records named include CCTV footage, GPS and vehicle-tracking data, vehicle logbooks, gate registers, weighbridge records, delivery notes and purchase orders. The case will be mentioned on November 5 for further directions.
The lobby group says KRC has been dismantling and disposing of scrap metal, sleepers, rails and other railway materials. According to the group, this has happened at KRC termini in Kisumu, Eldoret, Naivasha and Mombasa. It says the materials are moved in privately owned vehicles to a private yard in Athi River, Machakos County. There, it alleges, they are disposed of in an opaque way that breaks the law. Court documents show the group also alleges that police officers have escorted the trucks.
"Kenya Railways Corporation, being a state corporation, cannot lawfully treat public assets as though they are the private property of individual office holders or private persons," the organisation says in its petition. It says the authorisations, valuation records, tender documents, sale agreements and inventory records for the disposal have not been publicly disclosed.
The group has sued KRC, its managing director Philip Mainga and the corporation's board. It has also sued two companies, Muranga Freight Logistics Limited and Abcos Industrial Limited. The NGO's executive director, Julius Ogogoh, cites the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015. He says the law requires public bodies to dispose of assets transparently and with integrity. He also cites the Scrap Metal Act. In his view, it bans possessing scrap metal of unknown origin and removing scrap from railway infrastructure.
Ogogoh argues that using police to escort private vehicles carrying public assets to a private yard raises serious legal and accountability concerns. The NGO wants the court to make KRC produce the documents that authorised the removal and disposal. These include valuation reports, tender and auction records, sale agreements and delivery documents. The Daily Nation report did not include a response from KRC or the companies named.