The National Police Service (NPS) Thursday accused a Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court of breaching evidentiary rules by compelling the production of the police Arms Movement Register in the ongoing inquest into the death of Rex Kanyike Massai. In an application filed under Section 363 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the NPS wants the court to review and set aside its ex tempore ruling delivered on September 3 which allowed the register to be produced and marked as exhibits following an oral application by prosecution counsel. Through an affidavit sworn by Corporal Fredrick Okapesi, the armourer at Central Police Station, the…
Author: Pinnah Mokeira
The High Court Wednesday ordered the government to respond to a petition filed by the family of Administration Police officer Benedict Kabiru Kuria, who went missing while serving in Haiti under the United Nations-sanctioned multinational security mission. Justice Chacha Mwita on Wednesday gave the petitioners seven days to file and serve a supplementary affidavit, after which the respondents including the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior, and the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs will have seven days to reply. The matter will be mentioned virtually…
A pathologist told the High Court that the injuries sustained by the Kianjokoma brothers, whose deaths sparked national outrage in 2021, were inconsistent with claims that they jumped from a moving police vehicle. Testifying before lady Justice Margaret Muigai, the witness said she performed postmortem examinations on Emmanuel Mutura (19) and Benson Njiru (22) on August 5, 2021 at Embu Level 5 Hospital. Her findings pointed to severe blunt force trauma as the cause of death in both cases. For Emmanuel, the doctor reported extensive bruising to the face, multiple segmented fractures of the skull, and lacerations to the brain.…
Former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner (PC) Davis Nathan Chelogoi denied forging documents in a Sh1.3 billion land fraud case. He told Chief magistrate Dolphina Alego that he lawfully acquired the contested property in Lower Kabete and that all processes leading to his ownership were conducted transparently. Chelogoi said he was first allocated the land in 1995 while serving as a District Commissioner but was unable to complete the process then due to financial constraints. He told the court his salary at the time was Sh24,000, rising to about Sh40,000 with allowances, and sometimes his net income dropped to Sh16,000. “Because of…
The Milimani High Court ordered that the case on the killing of six-month-old Baby Samantha Pendo during the 2017 post-election violence be transferred from Nairobi to the Kisumu High Court. Delivering the ruling, Lady Justice Margaret Muigai said the transfer was necessary to ensure efficient gathering of evidence, reduced costs, and expedited proceedings in the interest of justice and public interest. The court further directed the National Police Service (NPS) to provide adequate protection for both witnesses and accused persons during transport and hearings. A senior officer from the Inspector General’s office will also be required to give regular status…
The family of the late 90 year-old Mburu Kinani have threatened to move to court to seek exhumation orders after alleging that his body was secretly buried at night by his stepchildren without their knowledge or participation. Mburu is the father to Kiambu County Deputy Governor Rosemary Njeri Kirika. Through their lawyers Danstan Omari and Stanley Kinyanjui, the deceased’s biological children argue they learned that their father was buried on the evening of September 17, 2025 at 6 p.m. barely 24 hours after a court issued a judgment. They explained that although a magistrate had issued orders stopping the burial,…
A group of retired Standard Chartered Bank Kenya staff not included in the “629 pensioners” category accused the bank and its pension trustees of ignoring multiple court rulings that found the lender unlawfully miscalculated their benefits. Through their lawyer Danstan Omari, the “non-629” members, said the bank had consistently defied the Retirement Benefits Tribunal, the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, all of which confirmed that the wrong actuarial factors were applied when the scheme transitioned from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan on January 1, 1999. They are now threatening to seek the…
The Court of Appeal overturned High Court rulings that found former Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i, former Immigration Principal Secretary Dr. Gordon Kihalangwa, and former Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet in contempt of court over the dramatic 2018 detention of lawyer and activist Miguna Miguna at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. A three-judge bench comprising of Justices Wanjiru Karanja, Lydia Achode and Joel Ngugi held that while the State officials were accused of defying valid court orders, the High Court erred by convicting and penalizing them without following proper procedure. In March 2018, Justice George Odunga fined the three…
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Friday dismissed as false and misleading allegations by Captain Kungu Muigai that judges were bribed to rule against him in long-running cases involving his companies. In a statement, the JSC said it had noted with concern a video posted on social media by Captain Muigai, accusing certain judges of corruption and faulting the Commission for dismissing his petitions. According to the JSC, Captain Muigai filed five petitions on October 11, 2024, seeking the removal of 10 judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. He accused them of misconduct for upholding what he…
The Court of Appeal will on February 27, 2026 deliver its judgment in a case challenging the constitutionality of key provisions of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018. The matter was heard by a three-judge bench comprising Justices Patrick Kiage, Aggrey Muchelule, and Weldon Kipyegon Korir. During the hearing, counsel for the appellants, bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) Mercy Mutemi, told the court that the High Court had erred by upholding several sections of the law that unjustifiably limit constitutional rights. She said the Act was passed “as a panicked response” to the undeniable potential of the internet and…
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has promoted 117 Judicial Officers across the country in what it described as a move to boost efficiency and enhance access to justice. The promotions followed interviews conducted between August 4 and 13, 2025, and were ratified during Commission meetings held on September 11 and 15. The changes took effect immediately. In a statement released on Thursday, JSC said the promotions underscore its commitment to strengthening judicial capacity, improving service delivery, and rewarding excellence among officers. Nine officers were elevated to the position of Chief Magistrate, among them Esther Kalunde Kimilu, Paul Kipkosgei Rotich, James…
The African Centre for Corrective and Preventive Action and activist Kelvin Mugambi Kubai moved to court seeking a ban on several widely used pesticides and herbicides, claiming they endanger the health of Kenyans and the environment. In a petition filed at the Environment and Land Court in Nanyuki, the petitioners argue that chemicals including glyphosate, paraquat, imidacloprid, clothianidin, fipronil, chlorpyrifos, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam, fenitrothion, malathion and dinotefuran are “defective, dangerous to human health, harmful to bees, and unfit for use.” They accused multinational agrochemical companies, local distributors, regulatory bodies and government ministries of violating Kenyans’ constitutional rights to health, life, food…
The High Court dismissed a petition challenging the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal. It ruled that the process was lawful and within the confines of the Constitution. The petitioner, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah had argued that the JSC unlawfully recruited seven judges instead of six, contrary to its earlier advertisement. Omtatah claimed the process discriminated against judges from the Environment and Land Court and the Employment and Labour Relations Court. It was further alleged that the JSC’s actions violated constitutional provisions on transparency, accountability, and equality, and that the appointments marginalized judges of…
The inquest into the death of 29 year old protester Rex Masai continued on Monday, with two key witnesses Safaricom PLC’s law enforcement liaison officer and a senior firearms examiner testifying. Safaricom’s Senior Manager for the Law Enforcement Liaison Office Zachary Kirogoi Mburu, told the court that the company had received two separate court orders compelling it to extract call data records and geographical locations of specific mobile numbers between 18 and 20 June 2024. “A request comes in the form of a court order, and once it is confirmed, it is forwarded to our office where we extract information…
A Nairobi chief magistrate’s court on Monday allowed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to hold a woman accused of involvement in a murder at a city hotel for 14 days to allow further investigations. Principal Magistrate Paul Mutai issued the custodial orders after police sought 21 days to conclude investigations into the killing of Baranabas Oketch Voeller, who was found dead at Kirubros Hotel in Nairobi’s central business district on September 13, 2025. According to the DCI, the suspect, Bilha Nyaboke, was arrested at the hotel on the same day of the incident. They alleged that she had been…