This archive report was first published on 10 September 2019.
On September 9, 2019, Principal Magistrate Edgar Kagoni spent the night in a Nairobi police cell, despite a High Court order in Mombasa directing his release.
The High Court in Mombasa had blocked Kagoni's prosecution in connection with the disappearance of narcotics worth Sh30 million, following a successful application by his lawyers and the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association (KMJA).
Justice Reuben Nyakundi had suspended Kagoni's intended prosecution pending the determination of a separate substantive application by KMJA, and ordered his release on a bond of Sh100,000 with a surety or an alternative cash bail of Sh20,000.
However, in Nairobi, Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina ruled that unless original copies of the orders granted in Mombasa were produced in court, Kagoni would remain in custody and be charged.
Onyina stated that the court needed to ascertain the existence of lawful genuine orders before making any further directions, as the documents presented were uncertified copies.
Kagoni was arraigned at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) law courts in connection with a Sh30 million drugs case he handled, and the other suspects, Onesmus Miinda, Abdalla Awadh, and Lawrence Thoya, were also present.
Justice Nyakundi's orders were quoted as saying, “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.”
Onyina granted the defence team time to table the original orders in court the next day.
