LSK’s Lamu curfew case certified as urgent

NAIROBI, KENYA: The High Court has certified as urgent a case seeking to lift a curfew imposed on Lamu County six months ago.

High Court Judge Lady Justice Mumbi Ngugi, sitting in Nairobi, further ordered the petition transferred and heard before the High Court in Malindi on Friday (December 5, 2014).

“The alleged infringement and continued violation of human rights having taken place in Lamu, this matter is hereby transferred to the High Court in Malindi,” Justice Mumbi ordered.

The Judge said that the transfer is in line with Rule Eight of the High Court Petition Practice Rules.

The Judge also ordered that the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) that moved to court in public interest serves the respondents who include Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku.

The National Police Service Inspector General David Kimaiyo and Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai are also respondents in the case that seeks to lift the dusk to dawn curfew.

LSK argued through lawyer Anthony Oluoch that the decision to impose the curfew on June 20th was unconstitutional, unfair, unreasonable and illegal.

“We seek orders to revoke the Legal Notice that impose the curfew and overturn the decision to deploy the military in Lamu without authority of the National Assembly,” LSK argued.

LSK is also seeking a permanent injunction restraining IG Kimaiyo and CS Ole Lenku from deploying the military in Lamu and its environs.

LSK Secretary Apollo Mboya said in a sworn affidavit that a fact finding mission by the professional body revealed gross violations of human rights in Lamu.

“The police were aware of the impending attacks in Lamu following prior information by intelligence units and policemen were deployed in Mombasa,” Mboya said.

The attacks by gun men in Mpeketoni, Lamu left over 60 people dead, 44 vehicles and 26 buildings burnt on June 15, 2014.

“The IG imposed a curfew in Lamu and its environs without due regards to the effects on the economy as well as freedom of movement and socialization,” Mboya said.

He said that the fact finding mission interviewed 16 men who narrated how they were allegedly tortured by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) for allegedly masterminding the Lamu attacks.

LSK argued in its 20-page petition that by imposing the curfew, the Government breached Article 238(2) of the constitution that there was no Parliamentary approval as required.