Audio By Vocalize
Chief Justice Martha Koome addresses a past press conference. [File, Standard]
When I recently attended a plea hearing in a criminal case at a Nairobi law court, I received ‘baptism with fire’–my many years in practice as an advocate notwithstanding. A simple, ordinary plea-taking by an accused person turned into a cat-and-mouse game between advocates (me included), the court clerk and the court itself.
The State had not objected to the grant of bond in a case–of stealing/handling stolen property. Interestingly, the court denied the accused bond nonetheless. In essence, breaching the mandatory constitutional requirement that mandates the State to provide a compelling reason why bond should be denied.
Troubled by this strange decision, I asked the magistrate, in open court, to let us know why bond was denied–to no satisfactory response.
