Court Rejects Former PC Chelogoi’s Bid to Recuse Magistrate in Ksh 1.3B Land Fraud Case

The application by former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner (PC) Davis Nathan Chelogoi, who is charged with defrauding a businessman of a parcel of land worth Ksh 1.3 billion, urging the court to recuse itself from the hearing, has been denied.

Chelogoi’s co-accused, Assistant Deputy Director at the Lands Administration Office, Andrew Aseri Kirungu, had applied through his advocate to the Magistrate to recuse herself from hearing the case, citing a lack of confidence in her based on her body language.

He also averred that the court ignored the perversion of public knowledge of the particular case, both in the newspapers and lately in Parliament, and other legal citations of the different legal cases in superior courts cited by counsel and his client.

While delivering the ruling on the application, Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego stated that the recusal of a Judicial officer, “The Judicial Service Commission made the Code of Conducts and Ethics Regulations 2020 pursuant to Section 47(2)(a) of the Judicial Service Act, Section 37 of the Leadership and Integrity Act 2012…”

The Magistrate also stated that a judge may recuse themself in any proceedings in which their impartiality might reasonably be questioned where the officer: is a party to the proceedings, a witness in the matter, has personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceedings, or has actual bias or prejudice concerning a party.

She added that a judicial officer’s recusal must be merited by the surrounding facts or by the appearance of bias. However, unnecessary recusal is an affront to the independence of the Judiciary and the decisional independence of judges.

“In this case, the application before me is speculative, unsubstantiated, and deliberately timed to derail justice. The claims arose only after the prosecution had closed its case and the accused had been placed on his defence,” the Magistrate said.

“Was the court expected to acquit at this stage?” The Magistrate posed questions about the motive behind the belated application.

The assertions by the accused Magistrate have exhibited bias through her “writings, body language, and conduct,” and she claims the case was prejudiced by its mention in Parliament and media reports. The Magistrate termed the averments as “a narrative built on conjecture and paranoia.”

She added that the application is executed correctly and that judicial officers must not yield to such tactics. She concluded that the accused will proceed with their defense before the same court on December 16, 17, and 18, 2025.

The duo was charged with conspiring to defraud Ashok Rupshi and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja of the said land measuring 7.39 Hectares situated along Lower Kabete Road.

Kirungu was further charged with fraudulently obtaining a Land registration number.

The prosecution alleged that on diverse dates between May 2020 and June 2021, Kirungu and Chelogoi, while at the State Department of Lands and Physical Planning in Nairobi, with intent to defraud, procured the registration of the said land by falsely representing that the land belonged to Davis Nathan Chelogoi.

He was further charged with abuse of office contrary to section 101 of the Penal Code.

According to the Prosecution, Kirungu on diverse dates between December 2020 and May 2021 at the State Department of Lands and Physical Planning in Nairobi, a person employed in the Public service as an Assistant Deputy Director in the Lands Administration Officer, for gain, fraudulently made certificate of Title in abuse of the authority of his office which was prejudicial to the alleged legal owners of the said land.