Mombasa magistrate held despite High Court orders

Principal Magistrate Edgar Kagoni spent last night in a police cell in Nairobi despite the High Court in Mombasa ordering his release.

Mr Kagoni will today take plea on charges of obstruction of justice, unless his lawyers furnish the Nairobi court with certified copies of High Court orders suspending his prosecution.

The High Court yesterday blocked the magistrate’s prosecution in connection with the disappearance of narcotics worth Sh30 million following a successful application by his lawyers and an association of judicial officers. 

The High Court also directed that Kagoni (pictured), who was flown from Mombasa to Nairobi at dawn yesterday to answer to the charges, be released on bail. 

“I grant the petitioner the application for conservatory orders and hereby direct he be released on a bond of Sh100,000 with a surety or an alternative cash bail of Sh20,000 and the orders be served through WhatsApp, email or any other channel,” said Justice Reuben Nyakundi.

The judge suspended Kagoni’s intended prosecution pending the determination of a separate substantive application by Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association (KMJA).

“This application has met the threshold for the grant of conservatory orders against the State and its servants and agents. I order that the petitioner be released from wherever he is within the republic,” the judge added.

But in Nairobi, Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina ruled that unless original copies of the orders granted in Mombasa are produced in court, Kagoni would remain in custody and be charged today.

The magistrate remained in custody at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) police station.

Kagoni was arraigned at the JKIA law courts yesterday in connection with a Sh30 million drugs case he handled.

“This court has to ascertain the existence of lawful genuine orders before making any further directions because what is before the court are uncertified copies of documents relating to this matter,” Mr Onyina ruled.

He added that all the suspects were represented and thus they should plead to the charges levelled against them.

“None of the four accused persons is without an advocate either in person or has legal representation in person or holding brief,” ruled Onyina. The other suspects are Onesmus Miinda, Abdalla Awadh and Lawrence Thoya.

Onyina granted the defence team time to table the original orders in court today.

He made the ruling after defence lawyers Danstan Omari made an application to defer a plea on grounds some lawyers were held up in Mombasa and were to arrive in Nairobi by yesterday evening.

“Some of my colleagues are being held up in Mombasa and they will not be able to make it to court today,” Omari said yesterday.

According to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kagoni was arrested for the manner in which he handled the narcotics exhibits in the trial of Tanzanian Hussein Masoud Eid Bakari.

The magistrate jailed Mr Hussein for 30 years and fined him Sh90 million last June 12, after finding him guilty of heroin possession. The convict was to serve an additional five years if he could not pay the fine.

Additional reporting by David Ochami and Joackim Bwana.