Man seeks ouster of Migori Magistrate Mathias Okuche for alleged misconduct
The petitioner claims that magistrate issued favourable ruling despite the defendants never caming on record before court and neither did they defend the suit
The fate of Migori Magistrate Mathias Okuche hangs in the balance after a petition was filed
before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) over alleged professional misconduct, partiality
and violation of the tenets of the rule of law.
The petitioner, William Othiambo Ngita, a complainant in a suit involving a property dispute which
Okuche dismissed with costs in his absence, wants the JSC to take action against the magistrate for allegedly colluding with them to deny him justice.
In his petition, Ngita said that the ruling was made on a day other than the one the court had scheduled and that it was not cause-listed.
Similarly, the petitioner claims that the defendants never came on record before court and did not defend the suit either.
The controversial eight-page hand-written ruling that has since been contested was
delivered on November 14, 2024 and no typed copy was availed as required.
“Contrary to established norms, the judgement scheduled for delivery on November 26, 2024
was mysteriously pre-dated to November 14, 2024, prejudicing the complainant’s case and
eroding procedural fairness. It cannot be gainsaid that the defendants who never participated
in the trial emerged as triumphant and we are now keen at extracting a certificate of costs as
awarded in the expunged judgement. This is the height of partiality by the Honourable Mathias
Okuche,” the petition reads in part.
In the suit, Ngita had sued Ansentus Otieno Njagwa and 15 others for trespass and
dispossession of the estate of Ngita Swaya from which they were allegedly collecting rent
“whereas they were not beneficiaries of the estate.”
“The complaintherein is premised on Article 172(1)(c) of the Constitution and seeks the
removal of honourable Mathias Okuche as magistrate on the following grounds: a. serious
violation of the Constitution including contravention of Chapter Six (Leadership and Integrity);
b. serious violation of the very tenets of the rule of law; c. gross misconduct in the performance
of his duties as a judicial officer and; d. partiality complacency and incompetence in the trial
leading to a wrong finding,” the petition drawn by lawyer Njenga Kiarie of KAN Advocates LLP
dated December 10, 2024 reads in part.
The petition is also copied to the Commission on Administrative Justice – Office of The
Ombudsman.
JSC received the petition on December 11, 2024.
