logo

CJ Koome suspends Tuesday court sittings to mourn magistrate Kivuti

"No Court will sit on this day," the CJ said.

image
by Bosco Marita

News16 June 2024 - 06:12

In Summary


  • In honour of the late magistrate, Koome announced the suspension of court sittings and matters listed across all courts and tribunals on Tuesday, June 18.
  • Koome directed that presiding Judges and heads of stations will lead remembrance meetings in common rooms in all court stations across the country on the mourning day at 10am to commiserate with Kivuti's family and one another.
Chief Justice Martha Koome signs a condolence book at the home of the late Makadara Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti who died on Friday from bullet wounds, June 15, 2024.

Chief Justice Martha Koome has declared Tuesday the day of mourning for the Judiciary following the death of  Makadara Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti.

In honour of the late magistrate, Koome announced the suspension of court sittings and matters listed across all courts and tribunals on Tuesday, June 18.

"No Court will sit on this day. Matters that had been listed on Tuesday across all Courts and Tribunals will be accommodated in the Court dairies on a priority basis," she said.

Koome directed that presiding Judges and heads of stations will lead remembrance meetings in common rooms in all court stations across the country on the mourning day at 10am to commiserate with Kivuti's family and one another.

CJ Koome said courts in Nairobi will convene at Makadara and Milimani Law Courts for the commiseration.

Kivuti died at the Nairobi Hospital on Friday where she was transferred for specialised care after the shooting incident.

She was shot and injured in the hip area and on the chest.

Kivuti was rushed to Metropolitan Hospital and later transferred to Nairobi Hospital.

On Friday, an urgent blood appeal was made to help save her life but she succumbed to her injuries later that night at around 11pm.

In a statement on Thursday, Koome said the magistrate was shot after she "cancelled the bond for an accused person who had jumped bond and had failed to offer satisfactory explanations for jumping bond".

"Immediately this decision was pronounced, a person shot at the magistrate and injured her on the hip,” she said.

The officer, identified as Chief Inspector Samson Kipchirchir Kipruto, who was in charge of a police station in Londiani in Kisumu, pulled out a gun and shot the magistrate, injuring her.

Other officers in court responded immediately, with one of them shooting the offending policeman and killing him on the spot.

Three other officers were injured in the ensuing melee, police said in their report.


logo© The Star 2024. All rights reserved