Ten petitioners, suing on their own behalf and on behalf of more than 600 other Kenyans, have moved to court seeking urgent intervention to secure their rescue and repatriation from Cambodia before a February 28, 2026 deadline, after which they risk arrest and imprisonment by Cambodian authorities. In court filings, the group says they were lured out of Kenya by fraudulent recruitment agents who promised legitimate job opportunities in Thailand. Instead, upon arrival in Southeast Asia, they allege they were transported against their will to Cambodia and handed over to human trafficking syndicates. “We were informed and falsely led to…
Author: Pinnah Mokeira
The High Court ordered the government to pay Sh55 million in compensation to 22 judges whose appointment was delayed for nearly two years by former President Uhuru Kenyatta. This was after the court found out that their constitutional rights were egregiously violated. In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that the 22-month delay in appointing the judges despite their recommendation by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was unreasonable, unconstitutional and a breach of their rights to dignity and fair administrative action under Articles 28 and 47 of the Constitution. The 22 petitioners had been nominated to serve…
The High Court in Nyeri sentenced a man to death for the murder of a seven-year-old girl whose body he buried inside his house before continuing to live there. Justice Kizito Magare handed down the sentence on Thursday to Nicholas Julius Macharia, describing the offence as one marked by a profound disregard for human life and dignity. Macharia had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering TBK, on May 24, 2025, in the Witemere area of Nyeri Township, but later changed his plea to guilty. The child was known to him through her family. In his confession, Macharia…
A Nairobi court acquitted a university student, David Mokaya, who had been charged with publishing false information and sharing an image of a funeral procession online allegedly linked to the President. In a judgment delivered on February 19, 2026 Magistrate Caroline Nyaguthi ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mokaya was the person who authored or published the impugned post on the social media platform. The court held that screenshots produced in evidence merely demonstrated the existence of an account but did not establish ownership or authorship. The magistrate ruled that no forensic digital evidence was…
Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu, popularly known as Babayao, was granted revised bail terms requiring him to pay Sh20 million cash or provide two sureties with properties worth at least Sh30 million each. This was after the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court set aside a Sh53.5 million bank guarantee condition that had kept him in custody for over seven months. In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Lady Justice Wilfrida Okwany ordered that the condition requiring a bank guarantee of Sh53.5 million imposed on July 31, 2025 be set aside and replaced with the new terms. Waititu will also be required to…
The High Court certified as urgent an application seeking to compel the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to install disability-friendly infrastructure at the Milimani Law Courts. In directions issued on Tuesday, High Court Judge Justice John Chigiti certified the application dated February 16, 2026 as extremely urgent. The judge ordered the applicant to serve the respondents and interested parties by 5 pm on the same day. The petitioner is seeking an order of mandamus to force the JSC to fast-track the installation of essential amenities, including ramps, lifts, handrails, guiding rails, and accessible lavatory facilities for persons living with disabilities (PWDs)…
A Nairobi court ordered that three Kenyans wanted in the United States over an elaborate financial fraud scheme be detained at Kileleshwa Police Station for 14 days to allow American authorities to file a formal extradition request through diplomatic channels. Peter Omari, Francis Asanyo, and Elvis Obaigwa appeared before the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court on Monday, where the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) sought custodial orders pending the completion of investigations and the processing of extradition documents. The three face charges in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions,…
The Milimani Anti-Corruption Court will on February 18, 2026 rule whether it will review bail terms for jailed former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Ndungu Waititu popularly known as Babayao, who is seeking to replace a Sh53.5 million bank guarantee with a Sh20 million cash bail deposit. The Director of Public Prosecutions strongly opposed the application, arguing that the bail conditions previously imposed by the court are reasonable and should not be altered. Waititu has been detained at Kamiti Maximum Prison for more than seven months despite being granted bail in July last year. He argued that meeting the bank guarantee requirement…
A public interest group filed an urgent application seeking to compel the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to install disability-friendly infrastructure at the Milimani Law Courts, describing the current state of access as a violation of constitutional rights. Sheria Mtaani na Shadrack Wambui, lodged the judicial review application on Monday, certified as extremely urgent. The petitioner sought an order of mandamus to force the JSC to fast-track the installation of essential amenities, including ramps, lifts, handrails, guiding rails, and accessible lavatory facilities for persons living with disabilities (PWDs) within the Nairobi court complex. In the court papers, the applicant through his…
The Court of Appeal cleared the way for the recruitment of a chairperson and six commissioners of the National Land Commission (NLC), after temporarily suspending High Court orders that had nullified the selection process. In a ruling delivered on February 13, 2026, a three-judge bench comprising Justices Pauline Nyamweya, Aggrey Muchelule and Weldon Korir granted conservatory orders allowing recruitment to proceed for positions that are undisputedly vacant. The court, however, expressly protected the tenure of two serving commissioners whose terms are still active. The legal battle stems from a High Court judgment delivered on November 11, 2025 by Justice Chacha…
The Court of Appeal has reduced a Sh7.5 million defamation award against a Nairobi businessman to Sh3 million, holding that although his letter accusing a senior banker of corruption was defamatory, the original damages were excessive given the limited circulation of the publication. In a judgment delivered on February 13, 2026, appellate judges Francis Tuiyott, Aggrey Muchelule and Joel Ngugi partially allowed an appeal filed by Paul Matumbi, proprietor of Prudential Valuers Limited, against Henry Tanui, a former Head of Credit at Consolidated Bank of Kenya. The dispute arose from a February 26, 2008 letter Matumbi wrote to the bank’s…
The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by Del Monte Kenya Limited, reviving the company’s long-running challenge against a 2012 labour court judgment after more than a decade of procedural litigation. In a ruling delivered on February 13, a bench comprising Daniel Kiio Musinga (President), Mumbi Ngugi and George Odunga overturned an earlier decision by single appellate judge Kibaya Laibuta that had blocked the company from filing its appeal out of time. The dispute originates from a 2012 judgment of the Industrial Court in a case filed by Patrick Njuguna Kariuki, where the court awarded him Sh8.86 million and…
The High Court sitting in Embu dismissed one of the Election Petitions filed by two petitioners after finding that they failed to comply with the mandatory requirement to deposit security for costs within the stipulated timeline. At the same time, the court ruled that Election Petition filed by Newton Kariuki Ndwiga challenging the Mbeere North by-election, will proceed as scheduled. In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice Richard Mwongo allowed applications filed by Mbeere North MP Leo Wa Muthende challenging the petition on grounds that the petitioners, Julieta Karigi Kithumbu and Patrick Gitonga Gichoni, did not deposit the required Sh500,000…
The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal temporarily halted the removal of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as ODM Secretary General, issuing interim orders stopping the implementation and gazettement of the party’s Wednesday resolution . Acting chairperson Gad Gathu certified Sifuna’s application as urgent on Thursday, ruling that the resolution passed by ODM’s National Executive Committee in Mombasa on February 11 cannot take effect pending inter partes hearing of the matter . “That pending the hearing and determination of this instant application, inter partes, this Honourable Tribunal hereby issues orders staying the implementation of the resolution made by the National Executive Committee of…
The State has defended its decision to prosecute family members and associates of the late former Attorney General James Boro Karugu, saying investigations uncovered compelling evidence of forgery linked to his alleged last will. In a replying affidavit filed jointly by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), investigators said the decision to charge the suspects is based on forensic document examination findings and witness statements collected during investigations. Seven petitioners, relatives and associates of the late Karugu have moved to court seeking to stop their impending prosecution. The criminal complaint…