Judges’ body joins battle to block Magistrate Atambo’s prosecution by DPP, DCI and EACC
High Court Judge Chacha Mwita allowed the application by KMJA during the hearing in which the association sought to be enjoined in the case as interested parties.
The High Court has granted the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association (KMJA) permission to join a petition by Thika Chief Magistrate Stellah Atambo, who is challenging her planned prosecution by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
High Court Judge Chacha Mwita allowed the application by KMJA during the hearing in which the association sought to be enjoined in the case as interested parties.
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The court granted KMJA's request to be enjoined in the case, allowing the association to take part as an interested party in the constitutional petition.
It also directed the petitioner to file a response to an application by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) within 14 days.
"Following the petitioner's response, the respondents and interested parties are to file their written submissions limited to five pages, after which the petitioner will have an additional 14 days to reply with submissions not exceeding five pages", the court directed.
The case has been scheduled for the highlighting of submissions on October 7, 2025.
Interim orders extended
In the meantime, the court extended interim orders previously issued that halted the state agencies from arresting or prosecuting Atambo pending the hearing of the case she filed.
KMJA had sought to be enjoined in the proceedings, asserting that investigative agencies are misusing legal processes to criminalise judicial functions.
The petition before the court is part of Atambo's efforts to stop what she terms as unlawful investigations and a looming prosecution.
In March, Atambo, through her lawyers Shadrack Wamboi and Danstan Omari, had urged the court to grant the injunction, arguing that the reliefs sought in the two cases—one in the High Court and another in a lower court—are fundamentally different.
"We plead with the court to consider granting the orders because the reliefs sought in the two courts are as different as day and night," Wamboi submitted before Justice Mwita.
Her lawyers indicated that the DPP had been enjoined in the High Court case, given his prosecutorial mandate.
Wamboi further argued that the lower court proceedings revolved around search warrants, while the High Court was being asked to review and scrutinise the legal process undertaken in the magistrate's case.
The defence pointed out that no formal complaints had come forward in the matter.
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