DCI suffers setback as court frees woman in Ruto flight tracking case
The legal battle is, however, far from over. High Court Judge Alexander Muteti is expected to deliver a ruling on Thursday on Ngache's application challenging the legality of her arrest, detention, search and seizure of her electronic devices, as well as the custodial orders that had been issued by the magistrate's court.
Senior Principal Magistrate Teresia Nyangena has ordered the immediate release of Mombasa resident Halima Ngache after declining a second request by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to extend investigations into allegations that she operated an X account tracking and publishing President William Ruto’s flight movements.
In a ruling delivered on Monday at a Nairobi court, Nyangena dismissed the fresh bid by the DCI and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for additional time to conclude investigations and complete forensic analysis of electronic devices seized from Ngache.
The magistrate marked the miscellaneous application as closed, effectively bringing the lower court proceedings to an end.
The decision came just days after High Court Judge Alexander Muteti ordered that Ngache be released from custody by 5 p.m. on Friday while considering her constitutional petition challenging the legality of her arrest, detention and the seizure of her electronic devices.
Ngache had initially been detained after the DCI obtained orders from the magistrate’s court last Thursday allowing detectives to hold her for three days to complete investigations into allegations that she published information relating to President William Ruto’s international flights.
When the matter came up on Monday for a progress update, the investigating officer, Corporal Edwin Metto, informed the court that forensic examination of the electronic devices recovered from Ngache was still underway and requested more time to complete the process.
“On the second of July, 2026, we sought court orders seeking orders to allow us to conduct forensic examination on electronic devices which were recovered from the respondent. The orders were granted the same day, and forensic examination has started. It should be completed before the end of this week. A report on that examination will inform the next course of these investigations, Your Honor, and for that reason, we are seeking for more time to allow us to complete investigations,” Metto told the court.
He also confirmed that Ngache had already been released on Friday in compliance with the High Court’s directive.
However, Ngache’s legal team, led by lawyers Ndegwa Njiru, Ian Mutiso and Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo, opposed the application, arguing that investigators were attempting to rely on electronic devices that had been unlawfully obtained.
Njiru submitted that the court should not permit further investigations based on gadgets whose seizure was already the subject of a legal challenge.
“The gadgets that you are just about to extend the orders for investigations were unlawfully procured. They deliberately refuse to give you the inventory… they want to conceal the manner in which these gadgets were confiscated,” he argued.
The defence maintained that the electronic devices had been confiscated without a search warrant, contrary to the Criminal Procedure Code, and urged the court not to sanction any further investigations founded on disputed evidence.
Maanzo further questioned the manner of Ngache’s arrest and transfer from Mombasa to Nairobi, arguing that she had been searched and escorted by male police officers in violation of police standing orders governing the arrest of female suspects.
After considering submissions from both sides, Magistrate Nyangena held that there was no substantive application before the court seeking an extension of the miscellaneous proceedings.
She consequently marked the application as closed and ordered Ngache’s immediate release.
Ngache was arrested by detectives attached to the DCI’s Serious Crimes Unit over allegations that she operated the X account @sholard_mancity, which investigators claim published President Ruto’s flight routes and travel information. During the arrest, detectives seized mobile phones, a laptop, a tablet and other electronic devices, which remain subject to forensic examination.
The legal battle is, however, far from over.
High Court Judge Alexander Muteti is expected to deliver a ruling on Thursday on Ngache’s application challenging the legality of her arrest, detention, search and seizure of her electronic devices, as well as the custodial orders that had been issued by the magistrate’s court.
