The High Court in Kajiado has nullified summons and arrest warrants issued against a senior prosecutor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) over a decision to charge suspects in a land fraud case.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

On May 21, the ODPP revealed that an April ruling delivered by Justice Christine Meoli found that the Kajiado Chief Magistrate’s Court acted without jurisdiction by summoning the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions to explain the ODPP’s decision to prosecute the accused persons.

The judge further quashed warrants of arrest issued against the prosecutor after failing to appear before the magistrate’s court for cross-examination over the charges filed in Kajiado in 2023.

Meoli ruled that subordinate courts do not have the power to interrogate or supervise prosecutorial decisions made by the ODPP, stating that such challenges can only be pursued before a competent court through constitutional petitions or judicial review proceedings.

📌 What You Need to Know

“The propriety or otherwise of a prosecutorial decision is not a matter to be canvassed through the testimony of a prosecuting counsel before a subordinate court, but rather through an appropriate challenge before a court of competent jurisdiction,” Meoli stated.

The judge added, “A party aggrieved by a decision by the ODPP to lay charges which, in his view, was not reasonably made is entitled inter alia to file a challenge by way of a constitutional petition or judicial review application before the High Court, which is vested with the jurisdiction to entertain such a proceeding pursuant to Article 165 of the Constitution.”

The court found that the magistrate’s court had improperly attempted to question the constitutional mandate of the ODPP after lawyers representing the accused persons sought to cross-examine the prosecutor over a letter dated June 13, 2024, communicating the decision to charge.

According to court documents, the disputed letter had directed that the criminal case proceed and that an additional suspect be charged in connection with alleged fraudulent dealings involving a land parcel in Kaputiei North, Kajiado County.

The magistrate’s court later issued a summons requiring the prosecutor to appear and explain the contents of the letter, as well as a previous High Court judgment related to the ownership dispute over the land.

The ODPP had argued that the summons and arrest warrants were unlawful and violated the independence of the prosecution office, maintaining that the prosecutor had acted within powers delegated by the Director of Public Prosecutions when communicating the decision to charge.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke