Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja have failed to appear before the Milimani High Court to answer questions into an ongoing case involving incidents of abductions that have raised in the country.
Murkomen and IG Kanja had been ordered to appear before the court on Wednesday, January 8, by 11 am alongside all Kenyans who were abducted recently including those who are yet to be found.
This is after the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) filed an application accusing the IG of failing to address the abductions and compel him to produce the abducted youth.
According to Milimani High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye, IG Douglas Kanja’s failure to adhere to the orders would automatically attract penal sanctions including contempt of court.
This follows last month’s order from Judge Diana Kavedza asking Kanja and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mohammed Amin to bring to court six people who were kidnapped in December, until the end of last year.
Also Read: DPP Issues Ultimatum to IG Kanja and IPOA Over Abduction of 6 Kenyans
Following Kanja and Amin’s failure to release the six people, Judge Bahati Mwamuye ordered that the two appear in court today to explain why they should not be punished for contempt of court.
In the case, the two were charged together with the Director General of Public Prosecutions alongside CS Murkomen.
Court adjourned as Murkomen, IG Kanja fail to appear
However, Justice Mwamuye was forced to adjourn the court session until 12:10pm to locate the Police IG after he failed to appear.
Lawyers representing IG Kanja and DCI Amin explained why the two failed to appear saying that an urgent security situation arose as they were preparing to attend the court session.
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“The IG and the DCI are not here this morning because as they were preparing to come to Court this morning an urgent security situation that required their intervention arose,” said lawyer Paul Nyamodi.
Also Read: Ex-DCI Officer Linked to Abduction Squad Takes Action Against Social Media Users
Meanwhile, City lawyer Danstan Omari who is representing CS Murkomen in the ongoing abduction case was ejected from the Court room for contempt.
Justice Mwamuye ordered Omari to leave the courtroom for interrupting proceedings. “Please obey the court. I have been assured that your party is represented by someone else, so there will be no prejudice,” Justice Mwamuye told Omari.
In his plea to the judge, Omari stated, “The court has struck me from representing my client.”
But before he could finish his remarks, the judge interrupted, stating, “I have not struck you from representing your client. I have asked you to leave for the purposes of today’s hearing.”
Ongoing abductions case
CS Murkomen, who was absent from court, has denied any involvement in the alleged abductions.
He subsequently applied to the court to have his name removed from the petition implicating him and other senior government officials.
In the ongoing case, the court had also directed the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to produce details of the vehicles allegedly used in orchestrating the abductions.
NTSA Director-General George Njao had been instructed to submit the vehicle details before the next court session.
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