Court blocks EACC from probing Thika magistrate linked to graft

Thika Law Courts Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo has gotten a reprieve after the High Court on Monday issued a conservatory order barring the State from further investigating and prosecuting her over bribery allegations. 

Justice Chacha Mwita prohibited the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) from arresting, detaining or charging. 

The judge said the order will remain in effect until her petition challenging the legality of the investigation is heard and determined.

This is after it emerged that EACC detectives obtained orders to search Atambo’s residence using her initials instead of her full name, in an attempt to conceal her identity from her colleagues at Milimani Law Courts.

EACC has accused the magistrate of demanding and receiving bribes from people involved in criminal cases before her. 

The EACC claimed that on the morning of March 13, they seized Sh2 million in cash at Atambo’s Syokimau residence stacked in a laptop bag, which they believed to be proceeds of crime.

The commission said Atambo and her court assistant, Patrick Njeri, were escorted to record statements.

“EACC wishes to confirm that it is conducting investigations against Hon. Stellah Atambo, Chief Magistrate, Thika Law Court, following numerous complaints alleging that she demands and receives bribes from accused persons in criminal matters before her,” it claimed.

Atambo, through her lawyer, Shadrack Wambui, swiftly filed a petition before the High Court seeking to block the investigations. 

The lawyer accused the EACC of acting unlawfully, particularly in relation to the way the agency sought a search warrant. 

“The application filed by the EACC contained a deliberate attempt to hide magistrate Atambo’s identity by using only her initials instead of her full name. This was not a simple clerical error,” Wambui told the court.

Atambo alleges the search was an attempt to intimidate, harass and obstruct her in discharging her judicial mandate. She says the court order used for the raid contained a wrong name, calling it a deliberate move to avoid scrutiny.

“This was not just a simple search; it was a calculated and unconstitutional invasion of her privacy, designed to undermine her ability to carry out her judicial duties without fear of harassment or undue influence,” Wambui argued.

Justice Chacha Mwita agreed that there was a question regarding the identity of the person named in the case that warranted the High Court intervention.

“I have perused the all material and the application placed before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Chief Magistrate in case E377/2025 and as read with Articles 22, 23, and 164 of the Constitution, which confer substantive jurisdiction upon this court, I am persuaded and satisfied that interim orders are merited at this stage,” Justice Mwita stated.

The case will be heard on June 10.