The High Court has issued orders blocking the arrest, detention and prosecution of embattled Thika Law Courts Chief Magistrate Stellah Atambo.
Justice Chacha Mwita ruled that the application by the magistrate seeking to block her prosecution amid corruption allegations was merited.
The judge noted the issue of names of the respondent and the applicant used in the criminal miscellaneous application.
“There is the issue of identity of the person who was sued in that criminal court, as a result of this, I’m satisfied that interim orders are merited at this stage,” the judge ruled.
C.M Atambo, moved to court through lawyer Danstan Omari and Cliff Ombeta among others seeking to bar the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) from arresting her and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) from prosecuting her.
Omari told the court that the miscellaneous application in the criminal which resulted to a search warrant being issued was unconstitutional as it contained material non-disclosure.
The court heard that the EACC failed to state the full name of the magistrate in the application, only referring to her as ” Bonareri N” yet they know her full name.
“There was no legitimate reason for failing to list her full name, as has been done in this petition,” he added.
The EACC moved to the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Milimani on 12th March 2025 seeking a warrant to enter Magistrate Atambo’s Syokimau premises for purposes of seizing documentary evidence, electronic devices, unexplained sums of money, or any other items deemed necessary in an investigation into economic crimes.
“On the same day, the 4th Respondent (Milimani Anti-Corruption Court) issued a ruling granting the application, pursuant to which an order was extracted,” Omari said.
According to court documents,the very next morning, at 6:00 AM, officers from EACC arrived at Atambo’s home, where she resides with her spouse and children, and gained entry in a manner both excessive and uncivilized.
The officers are said to have ransacked the house with reckless abandon, disrupting everything in sight and leaving the premises in disarray.
“This was done in the full presence of the petitioner’s children, intruding upon their privacy and exposing them to a needlessly distressing and traumatic experience.
EACC claimed to have seized Sh 2,070,000 in the Magistrate’s house. However, Atambo’s husband said the money belonged to him and not his wife but the agency ‘ignored’ the same and went ahead to arrest her.
The court heard that the petitioner is a distinguished advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 24 years of experience and in good standing, currently serving the public as a Chief Magistrate at Thika, where she dispenses justice with integrity.
C.M Atambo views EACC’s actions as a calculated and unwarranted attack, seemingly designed to intimidate, harass, and obstruct her in the discharge of her judicial mandate.
According to Omari, the arguments and framing of the application were intentionally designed to conceal Atambo’s official capacity, a fact that is publicly available and unquestionably known to the respondents. Their deliberate omission raises serious concerns about the integrity of their application.
The case will be mentioned on 10th June 2025.
