October 12, 2024

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Court extends order stopping arrest of two judges to next year

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The prosecution of High court judges Said Juma Chitembwe and Aggrey Muchelule over bribery allegations will take longer after a court extended to next year orders barring the Directorate of Criminal Investigations from arresting them.

When the mater came up for directions yesterday, Justice James Makau extended the orders to February 21, 2022 after it emerged that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was yet to file his response in the matter.

The judge directed the DPP to file his responses within five days in the case filed by the Kenya Judges and Magistrates Association (KJMA).

The court also enjoined the Law Society of Kenya as the third interested party in the case and granted it 15 days to file its pleadings.

This was after KJMA, through lawyer Danstan Omari, filed a petition arguing that the arrest of the two judges was illegal. According to papers filed in court, the association sought to have police barred from arresting the two judges and their subordinates.

The petition also sought to have the two judges stopped from taking a plea until the case is heard and determined.

Grilled by DCI The two high court judges were arrested on July 22 over claims of taking a bribe from a respondent in part of the cases they were hearing. Muchelule and Chitembwe were arrested alongside their drivers and secretaries.

The two were grilled at the DCI headquarters for two hours before they were set free.

Justice Chitembwe, in his response, argued that the 7,000 US dollars he was in possession of at the time of his arrest was not proceeds of corruption but money meant to pay fees for his son who is studying in Australia.