This archive report was first published on 23 August 2019.
On August 22, 2019, a group of around 100 protesters, mainly women, held a demonstration outside a Mombasa hotel where Chief Justice David Maraga was attending the judges' annual colloquium.
The protesters, who arrived on motorcycles, waved placards with messages alleging bribery among some judicial officials and chanted slogans against certain judges and the Judicial Services Commission.
They accused the Judiciary of being the weakest link in the fight against drug trafficking at the Coast and claimed that some judges had flirted with the Akasha brothers for years, blocking the wheels of justice.
Chief Justice David Maraga convened an impromptu meeting with top judicial officers after the demonstration, calling on police and other people with evidence on graft among judicial officers to take it to his office.
Maraga said it could be true that some judicial officers were protecting drug barons, but so far, no one had come up with evidence linking any judge to drug cartels.
He urged people at the Coast who feel that drug trade has become uncontrollable to write a memorandum to him so that he can see how best to tackle the issue.
