- On Tuesday at 12:20 pm, CoB Margaret Nyakang'o was presented before a Mombasa court where she pleaded not guilty to four charges against her.
- She was released on a Sh2 million bond, with the option of a similar surety or Sh500,000 cash bail.
Image: JUDICIARY
From dealing the government a few blows to charging a state officer with conspiracy to defraud among other offences, the corridors of justice have been busy grounds.
Here are some of the cases courts dealt with this week:
SRC sued again over judges allowances
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) is yet again in court after it cut the benefits payable to judges in terms of medical entitlements and travelling allowances.
SRC restructured the remuneration of judges and magistrates in a letter dated October 13.
There were some marginal increases in their salaries but documents filed in court show optical entitlement was reduced from from Sh200,000 to Sh75,000 and dental from Sh200,000 to Sh75,000
The papers also show that travelling allowance has been varied from Sh25,000 to Sh18,000 which is payable to judges for on-duty travel from the station the judge ordinarily works in.
The suit by Marion Joy Onchagwa through her advocate Elisha Ongoya, says the SRC did not consult the Kenya Judges Welfare Association when it made the changes.
"While the SRC has made marginal increases in the judge's salaries, it has acted without jurisdiction in formulating benefits of Judges which unless urgently resolved would be detrimental to the independence of the Judiciary and delivery of justice," the court papers read.
Onchagwa wants the court to suspend the implementation of certain parts of the SRC's directive which reduced certain benefits to persons holding the office of Judge.
Court suspends issuance of new digital IDs
The High Court suspended the implementation of new digital IDs and ordered the government not to register persons or issue new generation IDs.
Judge John Chigiti issued the orders after an application by Katiba Institute seeking to restrain the government from further executing the November 1, 2023 decision to roll out the Maisha Namba Cards.
This is before conducting a data protection impact assessment per section 31 of the Data Protection Act.
The Institute also wants the declaration that the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 and Birth and Deaths (Amendment) Regulations, 2023, were adopted in violation of the Statutory Instruments Act and are unconstitutional and invalid.
It argued that the state is required to conduct a data protection impact assessment if data processing is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of a data subject by its nature, scope, context, and purposes.
The matter will be mentioned on February 2, 2024.
Controller of Budget Nyakang'o released on Sh500,000 cash bail
On Tuesday at 12:20 pm, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o was presented before a Mombasa court where she pleaded not guilty to four charges against her.
She was released on a Sh2 million bond, with the option of a similar surety or Sh500,000 cash bail.
She was taken to court after a complaint was made against her and 10 others dating way back to 2016 before she became the CoB.
The charges she is facing include conspiracy to defraud contrary to Section 317 of the Penal Code, operating a Sacco without a Licence Contrary to Section 24 as read with Section 66 of the Sacco Societies Act, 2008, forgery and uttering a false document c/s 353 of the Penal Code.
Privatisation of KICC, 10 other state corporations suspended
On Monday, President William Ruto's administration suffered yet another blow after the high court suspended the privatisation of 11 state corporations.
The corporations include KICC, Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), Kenya Seed Company Limited (KSC) and National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK).
Others are New Kenya Cooperative Creameries Limited (NKCC), Mwea Rice Mills Ltd (MRM), Western Kenya Rice Mills Ltd (WKRM), Numeric Machining Complex Limited (NMC), Vehicle Manufacturers Limited (KVM) and Rivatex East Africa Limited (REAL).
Justice Chacha Mwita issued the order after ODM through Advocate Jackson Awele said the public was not allowed to give its views regarding the Privatization Act which made it easier to sell the state enterprises to private companies.
"A conservatory order is hereby issued suspending the implementation of section 21 (1) of the Privatization Act 2023 or any decisions made pursuant to that section, until 6th February 2024," the order read.
The Orange Party had moved to court arguing that some public assets like the KICC, KPC, KLB and KSC can only be privatized with the consent of the people at a referendum.
It also said its strategic installations are central to the country's national security.
15 cops linked to abducting two Indians, taxi driver detained in Kiambu
Police officers accused of abducting two Indian nationals and their taxi driver in 2022 have been detained in Kiambu Prison.
Issuing the orders on Tuesday, Senior Principal Magistrate Boaz Ombewa said there was nothing irregular about how their release on bond was suspended, as the defence had argued.
The suspension orders were issued by the High Court at Kiambu.
The defence, led by Lawyer Danstan Omari, had raised an issue that the prosecution did not supply the Kiambu High Court with all the details of the case when they applied for suspending the ruling that granted the officers bond.
They also argued that the detainment of the officers was infringing their rights, and especially their right to a fair trial.
The suspects include Chief Inspector Peter Muthee Gachiku, James Kibosek Tanki, Joseph Kamau Mbugua, David Chepchieng Kinsei, Joseph Mwenda Mbaya, John Mwangi Kamau, Hillary Limo Kipchumba, Stephen Luseno Matunda, Simon Muhuga Gikenyo, Paul Njogu Muriithi, Boniface Otieno Mtulla, Elikana Njeru Mugendi, Fredrick Thuku Kamau, National Intelligence Service (NIS) officer John Wanjiku Macharia and senior Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officer Michael Kiplangat Bett.