By David Ogega

Kenya Diaspora Movement

Published January 11, 2024

Kenya is UNSAFE for us to invest in, and here is why. When courts make bad rulings grounded on corruption, incompetence, or both, as many do in Kenya, the country at large suffers.

President William Ruto’s current confrontation with the judiciary for blocking his housing and healthcare program has not only exposed the dysfunction in the government but it is also a welcome display of discontent with the Judiciary that many Kenyans would agree urgently needs reforms alongside many other public agencies not the least of which is the Kenya National Police Service.

The Judiciary is NOT infallible nor is it exempt from public scrutiny, history is replete with multiple incidents of corruption and misconduct by Judicial officers in Kenya, the latest being former Judge Said Chitembwe who the supreme court affirmed his removal from the bench for misconduct. When Chief Justice Martha Koome issued her statement with a blanket defense of the Judiciary and that she will protect them no matter what, it was a wrong and unfortunate statement and lends credence to Senior Counsel Abdinassir’s assertion that the CJ is oblivious to what’s going on in the judiciary she oversees. There is deep rot in the judiciary, inside out, and unless they are stopped and the bad actors put out of business, the country will slide into anarchy, not because of President Ruto, but the Judiciary. Majority of the Judicial officers are good folks but there are enough bad actors that taint the entire bench.

Some of the elites have lampooned Ruto for openly vowing to disobey court orders he objects to and have accused him of courting anarchy. Ruto may have inartfully stated his case and it is obvious he’s exasperated because they blocked his agenda, perhaps he is feigning righteous indignation and his may just be political posturing to redirect public attention to scapegoat the judiciary for his administration’s failing economic agenda, or he could actually acting in good faith to advance his agenda. Whatever the undertones driving the spat between Ruto and the judiciary, this feud between the executive and the judiciary is WELCOME to many Kenyans who have suffered and continue to suffer in silence at the hands of Kenya’s extremely corrupt, incompetent, and rotten judiciary. I don’t think that anyone in their right mind want to disobey the courts but what if the courts themselves issue corrupt judgments and rulings, then who is the purveyor of anarchy and lawlessness at that point? What is our recourse? These judges now on the spot should take onus of their own failures, they are not infallible. This comes on the heels of the supreme court affirming the removal of Justice Said Chitembwe for subversion of justice and sleaze, for every Chitembwe in Kenya’s courts, there are hundreds if not thousands in courts around the country of equal or worse standing. He has the bully pulpit to

The Kibaki Type Judiciary reform and Overhaul are long overdue in Kenya

The Judiciary must be reined in by way of Kibaki-type judicial reforms which are long overdue in Kenya, a complete overhaul to surgically purge it of the corrupt and incompetent officers from its ranks and restore confidence in the rule of law. The judiciary is the only self-governing branch of government run by unelected, unaccountable, men and women who often comport themselves as the law unto themselves. Many tend to legislate from the bench and when challenged, they lash out and claim their independence is being attacked. Independence is intended to inoculate them from undue outside influences, it does not exempt them from following the law and applying it appropriately, big difference.

Judiciary Sabotaging Economic Development and Courting Anarchy

The Buck stops with Chief Justice Martha Koome and when she says that the court process should be allowed to play out, she’s saying we must tolerate corruption and incompetence until kingdom come or she decides enough is enough, and we are telling the Chief Justice time is up, shape up or ship out. Put your house in order. We cannot put up with the rot for years on end, live with corrupt judgments and go through a dragged-out in odious and protracted appeals process that can take years.

As currently constituted and from most of the feedback from our fellow Kenyans in the Diaspora, Kenya is UNSAFE for us to invest in, and here is why. When courts make bad rulings grounded on corruption, incompetence, or both, as many do in Kenya, the country at large suffers. Truth is, these judges and magistrates know how to game the system, and when in a matter of minutes, a bad, corrupt, or incompetent officer issue a bad ruling knowing all too well the appeals will drag on for years, their victims live with and bear the burden and consequences of the bad and unlawful orders practically with NO recourse whatsoever. Those bad rulings stifle economic development, and NOTHING is being done about it. From that standpoint, one can argue it is Chief Justice Koome who is presiding over the very anarchy that she is accusing President Ruto of. These judicial officers are untouchable and that must end. They must be restrained.

As you will see elsewhere in this publication, I have been unfortunate to be on the receiving end of the worst of Kenya’s judiciary, ongoing human rights abuses by a judicial officer, compromised judge who falsifies official records, magistrates who acquit criminals and uphold forgeries and fraud for pay. It is rotten from inside out and discourages economic development in the country, especially among the diaspora and potential investors.

Donors, Diaspora, Investors, and Development Partners to reassess Kenya as a safe investment destination

Truth be told, Kenya is hemorrhaging investors who are fleeing the country and cutting jobs in the process. The major reasons are lawlessness, corruption, and taxes. No institution is clean, but the Police and the Judiciary take the lead in sleaze in Kenya and need reforms urgently.  And rather than do all we can as a country to advance the country as an investment destination, a good number of people in this government, including the judiciary, are doing all they can to sabotage progress and ensure no new investments are brought into the country. As the Diaspora community, we want to cheerlead for Kenya, not BOYCOTT KENYA. And yet if the issues such as the one I am raising here are not addressed in a timely manner, we will not cheerlead for Kenya but on the picket lines to Boycott Kenya instead, to prevail on donors, investors, and development partners to withhold their funding and investments to Kenya until the rule of law is restored.

Proof That Ruto Is Right: First-Hand Personal Experiences Of Judicial Misconduct And Abuse:

What you are about to read is a sample of first-hand personal experiences in one station at Nyamira Law Courts that involved multiple judicial officers. Again, these are experiences of just ONE individual, me. If you extrapolate that among more than 50 million Kenyans, you can understand the depth of the depravity. This is simply unsustainable.

The cases you are about to read below are real, not fiction, but real and either ongoing or recent. They are documented and fully corroborated with voluminous evidence and paperwork. They happened in ONE Jurisdiction and involve MULTIPLE judicial officers, prosecutors, and Kenya National Police officers. Extrapolated across the country this means the problems are endemic. Many Kenyans can relate to President William Ruto’s frustration with the judiciary and many attest to its rot, corruption and incompetence owing to the needless suffering they have been subjected to. I am one of them. Multiply my experience by thousands if not tens of thousands of similarly situated Kenyans of the 50 Million Kenyans, We are all entitled to equal protection and access under the law, not in Kenya. It has two tiers of justice, one for high and mighty, the corrupt who pay to play and the other for everyone else. In this rendition, you will read harrowing accounts of multiple instances of misconduct by the Judicial officers at Nyamira directed at me by the station judges and magistrates.

If you offend one, you have offended all, if you report one, they all gang up against you, you can’t win, the rule of law does NOT matter. My crew is in jail today not for anything wrong they did or break any law but because the judicial officers are sending me the message as to who is really in charge. It is unfortunate and dangerous. DP Gachagua recently recounted how the Kenyatta government plotted to have him imprisoned first even when the accusations against him weren’t proven in court so he can fight it in the appeals, but a magistrate saw through the nefarious schemes and delayed the case, in that instance, it worked for him. He has the means and bully pulpit to fight, others are not so lucky.

The Kenyan Diaspora is especially vulnerable and have zero voice or recourse before the judiciary. Many suffer in silence and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that oversees the conduct of its members is eerily silent and unresponsive when alerted of misconduct through complaint. I have filed and sent tens of complaints and pleas for assistance and protection from errant officers but there has been nothing but deafening silence. Anyone interested can verify for themselves if these accounts are accurate and judge for themselves.

Anybody who wants to follow up or verify these accounts of judicial misconduct at the Nyamira Law Courts is welcome and invited to check them out themselves, the case numbers are listed below for your reference:

These things are connected and collectively; they do a lot of harm to the country’s standing both domestically and internationally. Confidence in the rule of law, administration of justice in Kenya is severely eroded and therefore, investors are leaving, many are withholding their investments, Kenyans in the Diaspora is equally unwilling to invest in Kenya and soon donors and partners will be prevailed to withhold their support until and unless the rule of law is restored.

Human Rights Abuses, bullying and harassment by the Judiciary – Nyamira Magistrate COURT FILE NO. E112723

This is perhaps one of the most egregious act by a judicial officer, connived with senior Kenya National Police officers at Matutu Police Station in Borabu. On Tuesday December 5, 2023, I sent my crew to my home on assignment. When they arrived and were let in the shared homestead by one of the farm workers and ushered into my mother’s house.  Once inside and as they were settling down, another family member locked the door from outside and trapped them inside. He then called OCPD Josphat Chacha, OCS Abdirizak Mohammed, and Deputy OCS Stephen Oduor Mayia of Matutu Police Station to come and arrest them. A contingent of officers came and arrested them, booked them, and took them to Chief Magistrate William Chepseba’s court for a charge of TRESPASS, upon Magistrate Chepseba IMMEDIATELY sent them to KISII PRISON until January 15, 2024 without any hearing, bond, or bail that any arrestee in Kenya is entitled to. It turned out they has specifically judge-shopped Chepseba as they were confident, he will send them to prison on the spot. There has been a long-standing feud with the officers in question that their superiors know of and have refused to rectify, a story for another day.

As you read this, they are still in KISII PRISON, 30 plus days later for a crime they did NOT commit, they were looking employment to raise funds for the Christmas festivities for their young families and I hired them to do work at my home and invited them to come. Instead of earning a living for their families, they have been in prison instead. Chepseba, upon sending them to prison, went on leave, to be with his loved ones while these innocent souls languish in prison through no fault of their own. It turns out, that the Police had connived with the Court and had” judge-shopped” for Chepseba and specifically arraigned them in his court solely for him to deny them bail to send me a message. The young men were not trespassing upon my home or land, I invited them. I have had long running issues with the Police mentioned above who connived with the Court and the prosecution to abuse these young men’s human rights, they have taken it upon themselves to block me from my home and chosen the bullying, harassment, and human rights abuses under color of law to achieve their nefarious agenda. These young men are weak and vulnerable. If any of you want to confirm, or show support, the next court date is on January 15, 2024 in Magistrate William Chepseba’s courtroom, https://bit.ly/2LKIEIW.

The sad part about all these is that the Judicial Service Commission, seniormost officials at the Ministry of the Interior i.e., the CS, PS, Internal Affairs Unit, knew of these abuses and did absolutely nothing, like it did not matter. But when audio clips of Josphat Chacha, the OCPD whose been perpetrating these atrocities surfaced of him insulting the local Member of Parliament, the Honorable Patrick Osero and CS Kindiki, he was IMMEDIATELY dismissed from the service, instantaneously. My point is there is no justice for the common man in Kenya, only the elite get customized justice.

High Court Judge (Justice) In A Plot To Disinherit And Shield Criminals – Nyamira HC Environmental & Land Court (ELC) 003 Of 2023

The story in this case is absurd and the epitome of the deeply embedded sleaze and rot in the judiciary. dovetails the one above where judicial officers at this one station, Nyamira Law Courts, are hell-bent on disinheriting and kicking me from my home, for no reason whatsoever other than corruption on their part, anyone can check this out for themselves, the case number is listed. In this case, the Judge or Justice, connived with the lawyer and others, including Kenya National Police Service officers issued a conservatory order to block me from my home. He falsified the order by stating that he held a hearing when in fact he NEVER held a hearing. He also falsified the order by stating that nobody attended the scheduled hearing when in fact I attended the hearing, but he blocked me and disabled my microphone. Days later after the court incident, the lawyer who colluded with this judge served me an unsigned order granting him everything he asked for. This is the kind of depravity Kenyans endure in Kenyan courts, especially if you are a Diaspora who does not “pay to play.”  The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was alerted and is fully aware of all the dastardly deeds by this officer but have done absolutely nothing about it, not even an acknowledgment despite multiple pleas to them for their assistance.

The details behind this episode are voluminous to share but at a high level, this instant case is presided by Nyamira High Court Justice Joseph Mugo Kamau. The storyline is very bizarre and is a plot between the Police, the Judge, and a lawyer who years prior had forged signatures and committed fraud upon the Nyamira Magistrate Court to obtain a letter of administration of our family estate following my father’s passing. The Kenya National Police Officers at Matutu police Station, led by OCPD Josphat Chacha, OCS Abdirizak Mohammed, Deputy OCS Stephen Oduor Mayia, OCS Zachary Odongo (demoted) and OCS Aggrey Magomere (transferred) had for years committed dastardly atrocities against my crew, bullied, harassed, threatened, assaulted, battered, intimidated, arrested, framed, and charged my crew with trumped up charges, all designed to block me from my home. They hired thugs to commit the assaults and were hoping I will be intimidated and be scared off my own home. When it failed, the lawyer, in connivance with the police, the judge, and estranged family members, filed a frivolous “Constitutional Petition” designed to permanently block me from my home. The storyline in the application was disguised, masked to appear that the very police that have been harassing and bullying my crew for all these years were being used by me to harass my other family members and were violating their constitutional human rights and thus need to be restrained through a court order from investigating the forgeries, the assaults or any of the other crimes. In other words, they asked Justice Mugo to protect and shield them from being held accountable for their criminal activities. In the application, the lawyer also asked the court to block me or my crew from accessing my home, this was really the only purpose of the filing, to block me from my home. It turned out that this had all been preplanned with the Judge long before and it was just a formality for show.

The lawyer gleefully served me with the motion and what I was subjected to and have been subjected to is nothing but the highest abuse of judicial authority I’ve ever been subjected to or witnessed, worse than what Justice Said Chitembwe was accused of and removed from office for.The court scheduled a hearing to allow named parties to respond to the petition of which response I submitted. On July 25, 2023, I attended Court presided by Judge Joseph Mugo Kamau. Judge Joseph Mugo Kamau disabled my microphone during the entirety of the session except when he turned it on to mock me and make disparaging remarks directed at me and the location I was logged in from. I have never seen a judge so discourteous, so intemperate, so condescending, so insolent and openly hostile toward me for no reason whatsoever, on first appearance before him no less. After scolding me, he then promptly disabled my microphone, again. I was never heard or allowed to speak again. None of the other named respondents showed up or attended court, they were not going to, it was a hoax, a subterfuge, I was Judge Mugo’s sole target in that court.

I immediately wrote a protest note and copied the JSC (see attached). Magistrate Cyprian Waswa was not part of the proceedings even though I have had run-ins with him which are currently subject to review by the JSC.

Notwithstanding my attendance and Judge Mugo Kamau’s refusal to hear me by disabling my microphone (by the way it turns out it is a common practice by judicial officers in Kenya, that is your signal that they are about to do you an injustice, either disable your microphone or just remove from virtual court until after they have ruled against you, simply put you are screwed).

In rebuking President Ruto for taking on the Judiciary Chief Justice Martha Koome was categorical that anyone with a complaint about the Judicial officers should file a complaint to the JSC, I filed tens of them, and NOTHING has ever been done, not even an acknowledgment. No DISQUALIFICATION of [In]Justice Mugo I have filed multiple motions for dismissal, recusal, name it, he has clung on to the matter. He doesn’t want anyone else to expose his work for what it really is. And even with multiple alerts and complaints to the Judicial Service Commission about the glaring mischief and misconduct of Justice Joseph Mugo, they did absolutely NOTHING, not even an acknowledgement of the complaint.

In rebuking President Ruto for taking on the Judiciary Chief Justice Martha Koome was categorical that anyone with a complaint about the Judicial officers should file a complaint to the JSC, I filed tens of them, and NOTHING has ever been done, not even an acknowledgment. No DISQUALIFICATION of [In]Justice Mugo. I hope you see the pattern.

Judge and Magistrate Aid and Abet Crimes by Upholding Forgeries and Fraud

Yet another case to illustrate the rot at the Judiciary. Following my father’s passing in May 2017, I attended his funeral and returned to States. Unbeknownst to me, a couple of family members and their lawyer conspired and forged family members’ signatures, including mine, purporting them to be our consent and applied for Grant of letter of administration ad litem at Principal Resident Magistrate in Nyamira. Relying on the forgeries, the Court issued the Grant (Succession Cause 93 of 2017). The applicants then used the grant to block me from accessing my home triggering my own investigation and discovery of the fraud perpetrated upon the court.

I immediately applied to the court to revoke the Grant.  When I refused to “pay to play”, the presiding magistrate, Cyprian Waswa, also the Court’s Deputy Registrar (DR) declined to revoke it, holding that he had personal knowledge in his capacity as the DR of other pending related application in the high court and so he would let the forgery and fraud stand. Then he became extremely hostile toward me and blocked my appeal multiple times, I mean he became loathsome. Nonetheless, the appeal advanced after overcoming DR Waswa’s blocks and it ultimately wound up before Nyamira High Court Justice W.A. Okwany, (Family Civil Appeal No. E001 of 2021). To my utter dismay, Justice Okwany also upheld the forgeries and the fraudulently obtained Grant, holding that said forgeries had no bearing in the issuance of the grant. In other words, forgeries and fraud, even those perpetrated against the court itself, are permissible and the courts will accept documents obtained through fraud and forgeries as legitimate. The courts in Kenya will disinherit you or steal your property on account of fraud and there is not a darn thing you can do about it. The Judicial Service Commission was alerted/informed of this  case, just as all others enumerated herein, the outcome was the same, absolutely NOTHING was done about it. I am still waiting for an acknowledgement, almost a year later.

Magistrate Acquits thief who then goes around soliciting funds to pay her off

This is yet another case that illustrates deep corruption in the judicial ranks. In August 2018, the suspect, a family member, was observed by my employee stealing my building materials (blocks) from my building site and selling them. I subsequently filed a complaint with the police, he was arrested and charged with theft. The case was originally before the Principal Magistrate at Keroka Law Courts and for reasons beyond the scope of this publication, wound before Nyamira Principal Magistrate M.C. Nyigei (Criminal Case E318 Of 2022, Formerly Keroka PMCCR NO. 622 OF 2019). On Tuesday March 28, 2023, while attending Magistrate Nyigei’s proceedings virtually, she disconnected me from the proceedings when the case was called, acquitted the defendant, citing as main reasons, evidence not on record anywhere and witnesses that did not testify; she made up her evidence and witnesses on her own to fit the acquittal. As the old adage goes, “loose lips sink ships” because shortly afterwards the defendant’s side of the family started soliciting funds to pay her the balance of what was promised for the acquittal.

I reported this incident to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), nothing was done, not even an acknowledgement. I shared the facts with the Office of Director Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for a retrial, no response.

Judiciary disregards and disobeys its own orders

The judiciary need to level with Kenyans because it is a key purveyor of lawlessness and impunity. They are being sanctimonious because in the renditions above, because of the blockade and abuses by the Police as mentioned above, I applied and was granted a restraining order from the Keroka Magistrate Court (MCCCMISC/004/2021) that specifically directed Matutu Police and others, “THAT their respondents, their proxies/agents are hereby refrained from blocking, restricting, hindering, and or interfering with the applicant, his servants and or agents from free access to his house/home/estate situated in land parcel….” But rather than the police implement the Court order, they rubbished it and doubled down on the abuses of my crew instead. And when I filed a contempt complaint, at Nyamira, they declined to take it up and buried it instead. The court refused to uphold the order from a concurrent court. So when they are pointing fingers at President Ruto for threatening to disobey their order(s), maybe they should spend more time at the mirror and spare us the sanctimony.

Unequal Justice – Two Tiers of Justice

The culture of a two-tiered justice must also come to an end in Kenya. It is a system that plays favorites. Equal access and protection under the law must take hold now or the country is doomed. President Ruto’s push for reforms must not stop when the judiciary relents to serve his agenda but to address institutional injustices against ordinary Kenyans as well. To illustrate and in fairness to the Judiciary, the cases I have outlined above were initiated and orchestrated by Kenya National Police Service senior officers at Matutu Police Station in Borabu. For the last 6 years the station commanders, OCPD Josphat Chacha, OCS Abdirizak Mohammed, OCS Zachary Odongo, OCS Aggrey Magomere, and Deputy OCS Chief Inspector Stephen Oduor Mayiahave committed atrocities and multiple human rights abuses at Borabu, assaulted, battered, maimed, threatened, arrested, and maliciously prosecuted innocent people, mainly my employees. I raised the issues with their superiors at the ministry of the interior and they did nothing. All efforts to the JSC, IPOA, IAU, the ministerial level leadership fell on deaf ears. Last week, OCPD Chacha, had the gumption to insult the area MP, the Honorable Patrick Osero, and CS Kindiki. When the insults, caught in audio, went viral, the OCPC was relieved of his duty instantaneously. Contrast that with the suffering and the physical harm my crew has endured at the hands of these officers with the full knowledge of their superiors, but absolutely Nothing was done about it. The concept of equal protection and access under the law is foreign.