Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli has been sentenced to jail for 6 months after High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi found him guilty of Contempt of Court.

Masengeli was found guilty after  he failed to appear in court several times upon being summoned over the whereabouts of the three missing people from Kitengela.

The trio, two brothers, Jamil Longton and Aslam Longton, and activist Bob Njagi, were abducted last by people believed to be police officers.

In his ruling, the judge ordered the Acting IG to surrender himself to the General Commissioner of Prisons so that he can attend to his sentence.

“Mr Gilbert Masengeli is sentenced to six months imprisonment, he is ordered to submit himself to the Commissioner of Kenya Prisons to ensure he is committed to a prison facility to commence serving sentence,” stated Justice Mugambi.

“The court nevertheless finds it desirable to impose this sentence as a coercive order as opposed to a punitive order. Mr Masengeli may avoid serving this sentence and in that regard suspend this sentencing for seven days only,” Justice Migambi said.

If Masengeli fails to surrender himself, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki must ensure that he serves his jail term.

“In event he doesn’t submit himself CS Interior must take all steps to ensure he is committed to prison to serve sentence,” said the Judge.

Earlier, through his lawyers Steve Ogolla, Masengeli attempted to block his sentencing, saying that the nature of his work saw him attend to court summons. The judge however declined his request.

“As a court I wouldn’t want to be unfair to anyone. I’ve done more than I could to accommodate him. I gave him more than fare chances. I even accommodated him on the last day,” justice Mugambi said.