A Mombasa Court has ordered a magistrate who had pulled out of a narcotic case to conclude the case.
Chief Magistrate Julius Nang'ea has been ordered to finalise the case in which five persons were facing drug trafficking charges, following President Uhuru Kenyatta's order to destroy the vessel that allegedly transported the drugs.
The magistrate argued the destruction of the vessel in question not only amounted to interference with the case, but was also a disregard to the rule of law as outlined in the Constitution.
Nange’a withdrew from the case citing interference from government officials including Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, Chief of Defence Forces General Joseph Mwathethe and Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa.
The officials are said to have supervised the destruction of the vessel, MV Baby Iris, which had allegedly transported the narcotics estimated to have a value of Sh22 million.
"I no longer feel comfortable to continue conducting the case," said Nange’a, the magistrate said, as quoted by the Standard.
Mombasa Chief Magistrate Teresia Muthoka acknowledged the move to destroy the ship was a big blow, but ordered Nange’a to finalise the hearing of the case.
"It is clear that the request made by Nang'ea would not be reasonable and in the circumstance would perpetuate the very problem he is complaining of which is a blow to the rule of law because a new magistrate taking up the matter would not have the same advantage. That would not be in the interest of justice," she said.