Justice Delayed: Prosecution’s Repeated Adjournments Frustrate Illegal Detention Case
"The complainant in the matter might feel being denied justice since the incident took place in 2021," Mburu stated.
A city lawyer has urged the magistrate court to proceed with the hearing on a case where a senior police officer is charged with detaining a British national illegally after the continuous delay by the prosecution.
Simon Mburu holding brief for Ayni Hussein Mahammud, the complainant, jointly with Julius Nyagah from International Justice Mission (IJM) lamented the superfluous delay by the prosecution seeking more time despite the same office approving the charges and prayed for the hearing date.
Mburu submitted before the Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina pointing a finger at the ODPP for the delay they have been causing in prosecuting the matter despite the approval of charges against Eastleigh North Police Station OCS Rebecca Njeri Muraya and Seargent Abdisalam Ahmed from the same station,
“Your honor, I pray this court dismisses the application by the prosecution for an adjournment considering the delay which is against Article 50 of the constitution. The complainant in the matter might feel being denied justice since the incident took place in 2021,” he submitted.
State prosecutor Irene Magolo on behalf of Norah Atieno prayed for the adjournment of the matter citing that the file they did not have the file in court stating that the ODPP has not given the way forward,
“Your honor, I have been informed by my colleague Norah Atieno who is prosecuting this matter that the file is still in the hands of the DPP for perusal. I seek for two weeks to get feedback on how the matter will proceed,” she submitted.
The DPP through Norah Atieno earlier told the court that they received two files one from the police and the other from the Integrity Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) referring to one complaint and they can’t prefer charges before reviewing the two files which are done by different institutions.
For the fourth time in a row, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ODPP through Norah Atieno has been praying for time to peruse the files they claim to originate from the same complainant but reported from different entities.
The defence lawyer Tito Kimosop concurred with the prosecution for the DPP to be given more time to review the files and the matter to proceed in order.
The lawyer further disclosed they are yet to be served with witness statements and prayed for the court’s indulgence.
The magistrate considered the application for adjournment and scheduled the matter to be mentioned on June 5, 2025, to confirm disclosure.
The two officers serving within the National Police Service NPS were charged that, on December 31, 2021, at Eastleigh North police station intentionally and unlawfully jointly ordered the arrest of Ayni Hussein Mahammud detained her at Muthaiga Police Station for two days with the intent to intimidate her pursuing her complaint of assault against Abdihakim Saidi Jama.
The duo were further charged with abuse of office contrary to Section 101 (1) as read together with Section 102 of the Penal Code.
On December 31, 2021, at Eastleigh North Police Station within Starehe Sub-county in Nairobi county they jointly unlawfully and without sufficient cause arrested Ayni Hussein Mahammud and detained her in Muthaiga Police Station.
The prosecution has been seeking an adjournment since January this year with reasons for perusing the files.
