By Isaac Mutiso and Enock Nyankieya
Mumias MP Peter Salasya’s might be auctioned over a Sh500, 000 he borrowed from businessman Robert Lutta.
Auctioneers want to sell Salasya’s Land Cruiser Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to recover the money.
Kakamega Small Claims Court (SCC), adjudicator, Caroline Cheruiyot, recently halted the auction of Salasya’s car after the MP proposed to settle the money in installments plus interests in installments, rather than surrendering the vehicle.
“Upon being granted a (30 day) stay, Salasya posted videos on his social media pages flushing wads of paper money, calling out on my advocate Mr Edwin Wafula to ‘come and pick money from my office’,” Mr Lutta said in his affidavit
“In the meantime, the stay orders restraining the auctioneers from attaching his vehicle shall continue to take effect as the court seeks to give the ruling on the mode of payment of the decretal amount,” said Cheruiyot on Thursday during a court session.
Salasya proposed to settle the outstanding debt of Mr Lutta in small installments of Sh 50,000 which Lutta, through his lawyer, Edwin Wafula has disagreed with.
Lutta feels that despite possessing the means to settle the debt promptly, Salasya has opted for a protracted payment schedule aimed at ‘taking the court process for granted’
He said such a move not only demonstrates a lack of integrity on the part of the politician but also an abuse of power and privileges he has as a politician.
He says that even as Salasya was given a stay of one month before he starts paying up, he had not made an effort to pay his client even a cent.
“Upon being granted a (30 day) stay, Salasya posted videos on his social media pages flushing wads of paper money, calling out on my advocate Mr Edwin Wafula to ‘come and pick money from my office’,” Mr Lutta said in his affidavit
He is seeking to object to the lifting of the auction decree and paying his cash in installments of Sh 50,000.
He pleaded that the delay was intentionally geared at manipulating and forcing him into a disadvantaged position raising the concerns about the moral compass of Salasya and his accountability as a public figure in positions of authority.
At the heart of the contentious dispute is a disagreement over the terms of payment for the Sh 500,000 a soft loan Lutta gave the MP on December 13, 2022 which the small claims court ruled last November the MP should repay the money.
The legal showdown, which has been months in the making, has seen both parties engage in a war of words, with accusations of bad faith and financial irresponsibility flying from both directions.
