The High Court on Monday, March 17, 2025, issued conservatory orders barring the arrest, detaining, charging, or prosecuting of the Thika Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo in connection with matters from the search and materials seized from her house last week until June 10, 2025.
Issuing the orders, Milimani High Court Judge Chacha Mwita stated that the orders are a result of the orders issued in miscellaneous criminal application number E377/2025 at the Chief Magistrate Court at Milimani.
The orders restrain the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), and their agents or any other person acting on their instructions.
“I have pursued the material and the application placed before Milimani Anti-Corruption Chief Magistrate E377/2025. As read with Article 23, 165 of the constitution, which confers this court substantive jurisdiction,” Judge Chacha Mwita directed.
Identity question
Further, Judge Mwita stated that there was a question of the identity of the person who was sued at the magistrate court in the criminal case.
“Looking at the result of this, I am persuaded and satisfied that the interim orders are merited at this stage,” Judge Mwita stated.
Mwita also ordered the respondents to file and serve their responses to the petition within seven days.
The petitioner will also have seven days to file and serve a supplemental affidavit if need be, together with a written submission on both the application and petition.
Additionally, Mwita stated that all submissions for the petitioner and respondents should not exceed 10 pages.
Atambo fights her prosecution
Magistrate Stella Atambo, through her lawyers led by Shadrack Wambui, pleaded before High Court Judge Mwita to be granted orders stopping her prosecution.
Appearing before Judge Mwita, Wambui said the proceedings before the High Court were meant to invite the court to do a postmortem or rather interrogate the constitutionality of the proceedings before the magistrate court in miscellaneous criminal case number 377/2025.
“Even while the EACC has powers to conduct searches, it is the duty of this court to interrogate whether that exercise of power was done in accordance with or in violation of article 50(4),” lawyer Wambui told the court.
He further stated that the proceedings before the lower court were meant to aid the EACC, a search that had been executed to a certain extent before the lower court stayed further execution of the orders of search.
Notably, Wambui stated that the names of the petitioner before the lower court were never revealed and that there are no complainants in the case.
The High Court will issue directions and further orders on the matter on June 10, 2025.
