The Nakuru Law Court was yesterday morning treated to a drama during the nationwide boycott of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) after a magistrate dismissed a case without basis.
LSK’s Nakuru Chapter leadership led by Wangari Mwangi, the chair, stormed Senior Principal Magistrate Faith Mutuku’s chambers in protest, demanding an explanation.
The society was informed that the magistrate allegedly dismissed several cases, contrary to the prior agreement done between the Chief Magistrate in charge and the LSK that no cases should be dismissed.
In an altercation caught on Camera, Stephen Imbwaga, the chapter’s vice chair, confronted Ms Mutuku for dismissing his case without any authority.
“We are on boycott, something this court was made aware of. It is so unfortunate that you dismiss my matter. Were you not aware of the boycott?” posed Imbwaga.
“I am very much aware of counsel. We have directions from our employer on how to proceed with civil matters. We proceeded with those willing to proceed,” responded Mutuku.
An agitated Imbwaga wondered how a court could dismiss a case without an application. He in fact pointed out that the lawyer representing the opposing party was also not present.
However, Mutuku dismissed Imbwaga and urged him to appeal her decision if he was aggrieved.
“Your honour, that is not the solution,” lamented Imbwaga.
“You cannot make our lives difficult here. You people are used to teasing us. Some of us were forced to come and work here. We never wanted to do so. We are tired,” an angry Mutuku stated.
The altercation escalated, with the LSK members present threatening to remove the magistrate and insisting that she applied for the work and it would be concerning for her to complain about working.
In response, however, Mutuku said that she was ready for anything and would be glad to serve other people elsewhere.
When Imbwaga asked the magistrate to put it on record that he appeared before her and complained about the dismissal, Mutuku reacted and told him to record on the court file himself.
“Take the file and write it yourself. Take it and write it!” she said.
Ms Wangari attempted to intervene to calm the situation down, but another altercation ensued, with Mutuku maintaining that the lawyers had no respect for the judiciary.
Wangari reminded Mutuku that she was a lawyer first, before she became a magistrate, before Mutuku interjected insisting that she had acted on the directions of her employer.
“I am acting on the direction of my employer. Go and ask them,” shouted Mutuku, angering the lawyers who rebutted, asking her to accord them some courtesy.
Wangari maintained that she was privy to the alleged direction and there was nowhere indicated that cases should be dismissed for want of prosecution.
She told Mutuku on her face that she was wrong and condemned her for the tone she had used against them.
“Some of us do not fear anything!” mutuku responded.
“This is not a joke. We are boycotting because some of you keep pulling us back as the judiciary. We will not be intimidated. You are wrong and you need to accept that. As a Judicial Officer this is not how you treat lawyers,” Wangari lamented.
She said that LSK was naming and shaming judicial officers who faced scrutiny and pointed out that her office had received complaints against Mutuku but had declined to act on them yet because she was still new in Nakuru.
“Let them complain, we are used to it. Do what you can, I will be happy to move away from here. You are not the one to direct me on what to do. You can address whoever you want,” said Mutuku as she stormed out.
The LSK took the issue to the in charge Chief Magistrate Tito Gesora, who said that he did not know the circumstances of the cases. He urged them to file a formal complaint.
Lawyer Kipkoech Ngetich reminded the court that the nationwide boycott was a bigger cause that had been belittled by some of the judicial officers.
“Usually when judicial officers obstruct a bigger cause, they become casualties of transfers and disciplinary actions. We do not want that, but whoever obstructs the bigger cause will be eaten,” said Kipkoech.
Elsewhere, operations at the Naivasha Law courts were paralyzed after LSK members boycotted all judicial processes.
The most affected were virtual sessions as lawyers and advocates kept off forcing various courts to adjourn tens of cases and send accused persons back to prison.
Inmates from Naivasha Main and Remand prisons were left between a rock and hard place after their lawyers failed to turn up as the crisis in the country’s justice system deepened.
At the law courts, tens of litigants and those on bond were forced to return back home after it emerged that the LSK members would not attend the court sessions.
According to a member of the Rift Valley LSK Council Mbugua Macharia, nearly all the virtual cases involving lawyers and advocates had flopped.
He said that LSK had mapped out courts where issues of graft and injustice were going on in Nakuru County adding that the boycott was on.
“Most of our members have kept off from the courts and we have identified two courts in Nakuru where we have issues with the magistrates,” he said.
The High Court advocate said that they would continue with the boycott until all the grievances raised by LSK were addressed by the Chief Justice.
A litigant, Joseph Mbuthia said that the boycott had affected him as he had travelled from Kerugoya only to learn that there was a boycott.
He said that he had come to withdraw a case after settling pending issues with the suspect who has been languishing at Naivasha GK prison for the last one year.
“The case involved assault and after months we settled the issue out of court and today I was supposed to withdraw the matter but the case has been postponed,” he said.
Administration of justice suffered a major crisis in the lower Eastern region after advocates made good their threat to boycott courts in protest against failure by the judiciary to address concerns of corruption, unnecessary delays and lack of judicial accountability.
In Machakos, the High Court division suffered the heaviest desertion by lawyers, forcing the adjournment of numerous matters that were slated for hearing or mention.
David Mbalu, who travelled about sixty kilometers to attend a matter in the courts was shocked after his lawyer failed to show up. “I have no idea why he failed to come to the court because the matter he is representing us in was coming up in court today (yesterday). It is a total loss for me because I have not been served right,” said Mbalu.
According to Richard Mulwa who is a public interest litigator based in Machakos, the boycott by advocates paralyzed both judicial and legal services with many litigants unaware of the boycott suffering inconveniences after travelling from far to attend to their matters.
“There have been discontent among lawyers and justice seekers that one of the High Court judges stationed in Machakos is fighting serious corruption accusations and has obtained conservatory orders to continue serving which poses serious questions regarding the decisions made by the court in question,” said Mulwa.
He said there was a critical need for the head of judiciary to candidly and openly confront the issues raised by advocates through the Law Society OF Kenya (LSK).
He noted that lower courts including small claims courts and numerous magistrates courts took on matters smoothly.
Lower Eastern Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairperson Priscilla Kioko said the boycott was called and executed in line with the constitutional guarantees. “In compliance with these guidelines, advocates have withdrawn their services for the day as part of their lawful protest aimed at advancing greater accountability in the judiciary,” she said, urging the courts to adjourn all the hearings scheduled for yesterday. [Erastus Mulwa, Daniel Chege and Anthony Gitonga]
