Following the confiscation of her cell phone by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), a magistrate assigned to the Thika Law Courts has claimed that court activities have paused.
Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo has filed a lawsuit through attorneys Dunstan Omari and Shadrack Wambui to force the anti-graft commission to restore the cell phone and guarantee prompt judicial proceedings.
Atambo claimed that the Thika Law Courts’ fundamental operations had been interfered with by the confiscation of her phone.
Critical judicial activities, such as contractor payments, case-related transactions, and reimbursements, have stalled, resulting in an accumulating backlog, according to her lawyers’ motion.
Anti-Corruption Chief Magistrate Harrison Baraza certified the case as urgent and set a hearing for Monday, acknowledging the urgency of the situation.
However, EACC’s claims that Atambo was involved in bribery and illegal financial transactions were refuted by Atambo.
She claimed that her husband owned the money that was taken during the raid and demanded that the commission give the money back to its rightful owner.
The jurist, who has been in the judiciary for years, insisted she was innocent while her case is still being investigated. In addition, the High Court prohibited the DPP from pursuing Atambo in the case until the outcome of a petition contesting the case’s validity was decided.
Following her case, the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association (KMJA) warned that the judiciary’s independence was in jeopardy and denounced what it calls a coordinated attack on judicial officers.
The union denounced the increasing number of personal assaults, threats, and harassments that judicial officials have to deal with, emphasizing that such conduct exposes them to emotional hardship, public humiliation, and the risk of mob justice.
