High Court Deals Chelogoi Blow, Directs Ksh 1.3B Land Fraud Case Back to Original Magistrate

Sitting at the High Court in Milimani,  Justice Alexander Muteti directed the matter to proceed in the Magistrate’s Court to conclusion,

“The matter will proceed in the subordinate court before the trial Magistrate for conclusion, but the applicant can file an application for her recusal in the same court if he wishes to,” Justice Muteti directed.

The decision of the High Court gives the green light to conclude the case, which has been delayed following myriad applications in the High Court seeking different reliefs, in which the former PC and his co-accused, Assistant Deputy Director in the Lands Administration Office, Andrew Aseri Kirungu, were the accused persons.

The duo was charged with conspiring to defraud Ashok Rupshi and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja of a land parcel measuring 7.39 Hectares situated along Lower Kabete Road, which was valued at Ksh 1.3 billion.

The matter proceeded to the hearing before the Milimani Chief Magistrate,  Dolphina Alego, who concluded receiving evidence from more than 18 witnesses and put the two on their defence, having a case to answer.

Being the first accused person, Chelogoi had to tender his sworn defence before  Alego, when, in a surprise turn of events, he asked the magistrate to recuse herself, claiming she was biased.

In her ruling, the Magistrate stated that the recusal of a judicial officer must be merited either due to the surrounding facts or appearance of bias. However, unnecessary recusal is an affront to the independence of the Judiciary and decisional independence of the judges.

The magistrate declined to quit the case, saying the application by Chelogoi lacked merit and was aimed at delaying the conclusion of the case, “which was at its tail-end,” prompting the case to escalate to the High Court.

On his part, Kirungu urged the trial court to proceed and determine the case.

The ex-PC has petitioned the High Court twice seeking to quash the criminal case against him, but Judges Alexander Muteti and Oscar Angote have dismissed the cases.

After the file was returned before the Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina, Chelogoi, through his lawyer, applied for the file to be transferred to Principal Magistrate Rose Ndombi to determine the case.

State prosecutor Hillary Isiaho urged the magistrate to refer the file to  Alego as directed by the two Judges of the High Court, who asked the accused to defend his innocence before the trial magistrate.

In his ruling, Onyina stated that “the matter has reached the tail end since the prosecution has produced all the witnesses in support of their case and the accused put on their defence.”

He added that the application for the recusal of the trial magistrate could have been made immediately before the hearing commenced.

“I have noted that the accused persons are on their defence after the prosecution produced 18 witnesses to support their case,” he said, referring the file back to Alego.

In the High Court ruling delivered today, August 17, 2026, Justice Muteti referred the file back to the trial Magistrate for conclusion but directed the applicant to be at liberty to file an application for the recusal of the said Magistrate before the same court.

Chelogoi and Kirungu were charged in 2023 with fraud-related offences with intent to defraud a parcel of land in Lower Kabete.