This archive report was first published on 5 January 2020.
On January 3, 2020, a dramatic scene unfolded at Kilungu Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya, where a court officer allegedly grabbed files and charge sheets and left, disrupting court proceedings.
Senior Resident Magistrate Elizabeth Muiru's court was left in disarray, with litigants stranded and members of the public in panic, after Mark Wangia, a prosecutor, was accused of being drunk in court.
Responding to the incident, Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji has deployed another prosecutor to the court and directed the ODPP's Internal Compliance Unit and Nairobi Regional Head to investigate Wangia's conduct.
According to a statement from Haji, the investigation report is to be submitted within seven days, and in the meantime, a new prosecutor has been deployed to the Kilungu Law Courts.
Haji also clarified that he is the only person authorized by the Constitution to appoint a prosecutor, following reports that a Makueni magistrate had assigned a police officer to the position of a prosecutor after Wangia failed to show up for work on January 23 and 24, 2020.
