Ex-PC loses bid to stop magistrate from hearing Sh1.3bn land fraud case

Former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Davis Nathan Chelogoi has suffered a major setback in his bid to stop the trial magistrate from continuing to hear and determine the Sh1.3 billion Lower Kabete land fraud case.

Milimani High Court Judge Alexander Muteti dismissed Chelogoi’s application seeking to disqualify Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego from concluding his case following her transfer to the Employment and Labour Relations Court.  

Justice Muteti ruled that Alego did not lose her criminal jurisdiction merely because she was deployed to the Labour Court, saying that she remained a magistrate under the Magistrates’ Courts Act.

The judge further upheld the decision by Nairobi Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina to return the case to Alego, saying it was proper considering the advanced stage the proceedings had reached.

“The deployment of a Magistrate from the mainstream Magistrates Courts to the courts that are subordinate to the courts of Equal Status does not divest such a judicial officer of the jurisdiction acquired at the time of appointment as a judicial officer,” Justice Muteti ruled.

Chelogoi had argued that once Alego was transferred, she could no longer hear the criminal proceedings and that Chief Magistrate Onyina erred by returning the file to her instead of assigning it to Senior Principal Magistrate Rose Ndombi, who had briefly taken over the matter.

Justice Muteti disagreed, finding that Onyina was within his power both judicially and administratively to return the matter to Alego, particularly because of the advanced stage the trial had reached.

By the time the dispute over the magistrate’s handling of the case arose, all 19 prosecution witnesses had testified and the defence case was already at an advanced stage.

The judge said allowing the matter to be transferred to another magistrate at that point would undermine judicial continuity and delay conclusion of the long-running criminal trial.

The court consequently directed that the case proceed before Alego.

“The upshot of the above is that this matter shall proceed before the Learned Magistrate Hon. Dolphina Alego SPM,” Justice Muteti ordered.

The judge further directed Chelogoi to either tender his defence and allow the proceedings to continue to their logical conclusion.

In the case, Chelogoi is jointly charged with former Assistant Deputy Director in the Lands Administration Office Andrew Aseri Kirungu over allegations surrounding the ownership and registration of a 7.39-hectare parcel of land along Lower Kabete Road.

The property, identified as LR No. 18485, IR 64011, is at the centre of a protracted ownership dispute involving businessmen Ashok Rupshi Shah and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja.

The prosecution alleges that between May 2020 and June 2021, Chelogoi and Kirungu conspired to defraud the businessmen of the property and caused it to be registered in Chelogoi’s name. 

Kirungu faces additional allegations relating to the fraudulent acquisition of a land registration number and abuse of office. 

The criminal case has been before Alego for several years. 

In July 2025, she ruled that Chelogoi and Kirungu had a case to answer after finding that the prosecution had established sufficient evidence to require them to defend themselves.