Lawyer in Mandera arrested for stealing case file. [Photo/chronicle.co.zw]
Police in Mandera County on Wednesday morning arrested a lawyer on suspicion that he stole a case file.
Mandera County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia who confirmed the arrest said the lawyer is being held at the Mandera Police Station adding that investigations into the incident have been launched.
“We have an advocate in police custody being investigated for a crime we are yet to confirm,” said Mr. Shisia.
According to the Daily Nation, Mandera Senior Resident Magistrate Peter Areri said the lawyer was arrested after a court clerk reported parts of an election petition were missing.
Mr. Areri said there were only five people in court when the petition was being heard and the three advocates present during the hearing of the case were the only suspects.
Magistrate Areri said the court clerk was able to identify the three advocates at the airstrip and upon searching them, the missing document was found on one of them.
The magistrate said the lawyer in an early morning petition had interfered with the court proceedings which he was not a party to and the magistrate was forced to kick him out.
“We had proceedings on Tuesday and I had to deliver a ruling on whether the petition should be heard or quashed only for parts of the file to go missing hours later.”
“The clerk did not have the document neither was it in my cabinet, forcing us to go after the advocates who were headed to the airstrip in the morning. These documents were found inside the advocate’s bag at the airstrip,” said the magistrate as quoted by the Daily Nation.