This archive report was first published on 7 September 2019.
On September 7, 2019, Magistrate Edgar Matsigulu Kagoni found himself behind bars, a victim of his own actions three months prior. In June 2019, he had sentenced a defendant to 30 years in prison and a Sh90 million fine, but his decision to return Sh600,000 to the accused person raised eyebrows.
According to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji, the exhibits, including 10.2 kilograms of heroin worth Sh30 million, went missing after Kagoni declined to allow police to keep them. The magistrate ordered that the exhibits be kept by the court, despite the investigating officer requesting to put them under police custody.
“CPL Mjomba (investigating officer) thereafter due to the sensitivity of the matter made an oral application to court to let him keep the narcotics drugs under police safe custody since they were of large quantity of 10.2kg valued at Sh30 million, the magistrate declined,” reads the statement signed by Mr Haji.
After rejecting the request, Kagoni allowed his court assistant, Onesmus Momanyi, to take control of the exhibits on December 4, but they were not taken to the store until the next day. The DPP alleged that this was a clear case of mishandling and obstruction of justice.
Reliable sources told the Nation that the orders for the arrest of the magistrate came from the Anti-Narcotics Director Dr Hamisi Massa. Kagoni was arrested at dawn on Saturday alongside three other court officials, including Ruiru court assistant Onesmus Momanyi, Mombasa court executive assistant Abdallah Awadh, and court staff Lawrence Thoya.
Mr Momanyi was being held in Nairobi, while Mr Awadh and Mr Thoya were being held at the Nyali and Makupa police stations, respectively. Kagoni will be arraigned in court on Monday to face charges of obstruction with intent to defeat justice and aiding and abetting trafficking in narcotic drugs.
