Written By Andrew Kariuki
The High Court has put on hold a petition filed by former Murang’a Governor Wa-Iria Mwangi and several others after ruling that they were abusing the court system by filing multiple cases over the same anti-corruption matter.
The petitioners wanted the court to stop investigations and halt a criminal case in the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court, where they are accused of irregular procurement in Murang’a County. They had asked High Court Judge. Hon. Benjamin Musyoki for twenty different orders, including a stop to any further action by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The court revealed that this was not their first attempt. Some of the petitioners had already filed a similar case before another judge, Justice Chacha Mwita, asking for the same orders to freeze the ongoing criminal trial.
However, they failed to disclose this when filing the new petition. The judge called this a deliberate attempt to shop for a favourable court, describing it as a “shameless act of forum shopping.”
Before the latest application could be heard, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority asked the court to throw it out, arguing it was sub-judice because an identical matter was already active in another court.
The judge agreed, saying the law does not allow two courts to handle the same issue at the same time.
The court also struck out a supplementary affidavit the petitioners had filed without permission, noting it violated clear filing procedures.
In the end, Judge Musyoki chose the strongest punishment available under the sub judice rule, freezing both the petition and the application for up to three months. This pause allows the earlier case to be determined first.
The judge warned that if the petitioners fail to declare their next steps after the three-month period, their case will be dismissed entirely. He also ordered them to pay costs to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
