‘Kanjos’ on go-slow after transfer of City court services
For a third consecutive day on October 4, 2023, a section of services at the Nairobi City Courts remained paralyzed.
This follows a stalemate between the city prosecutors and the Magistrate over the transfer of cases from the City Court to Milimani Law Courts has caused confusion among the staff.
As a result, the City Courts, which are always filled up, are now empty.
During the normal working days when courts are operating, Inspectorate vehicles are usually parked along the streets as officers engage in running battles with hawkers who don’t comply with the county by-laws.
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The courts always serve as the jurisdiction point for petty offenses remains without a magistrate.
This is after magistrate Leah Gichera moved her working station to the Milimani Courts.
As a result, on October 3 and 4, the City Inspectorates, known as kanjos, remained on a go slow in arresting petty offenders.
One of the senior officers who always arraigns the offenders before the courts said that they are waiting for orders.
“We have offenders across the streets, but the question is, where will we take them after the arrest? We’re on standby waiting for directions,” he said, seeking anonymity.
The Inspectorate officers who are deployed in almost every estate in the city arrest up to 200 offenders on normal working days, a majority being hawkers, boda boda riders, and motorists, among others.
According to the notice from the magistrate, all the cases involving petty offenders are henceforth supposed to be registered at the Milimani Law Courts registry desk.
However, the city prosecutors who are the employees of the county protested the move.
Prosecutors claimed they have been left jobless since they can’t prosecute the cases at Milimani Courts yet they’ve not been employed by the Judiciary Service Commission (JSC).
Nairobi County acting Attorney Christine Ireri condemned the move and expressed confidence that the matter will be resolved by Governor Johnson Sakaja and Chief Justice Martha Koome.