The Director of Public Prosecution has urged JKIA Magistrate Njeri Thuku not to recuse herself from Mathe Wa Ngara’s drug trafficking case saying she was within the law to deny them bail.
In their response to an application by Nancy Kigunzu alias Mathe seeking for recusal of the magistrate, the DPP says that’s intimidation of the court and a delay tactic by the accused.
In the case, the two have accused trial magistrate Njeri Thuku of bias and impartiality and have sought for her recusal from the case.
However, the DPP says the application for recusal attacks the merit of the decision that was rendered by the trial magistrate denying them bail.
According to court papers, the prosecution says Mathe should have appealed against the decision denying her bail if she was dissatisfied instead of saying magistrate was bias.
“The averments in the application amount to personal attacks against the decision-making independence of the trial magistrate and they do no demonstrate any bias or impartiality,” reads court papers.
The DPP has asked the court dismiss the application for recusal for being frivolous and admonish the applicants for abusing court process.
This comes days after Mathe also wrote to the JSC a complaint against the magistrate saying she was biased in how she handled their case.
Thuku denied Mathe Wa Ngara and her son bail but granted bail to their co-accused Teresia Wanjiku ruling that the two were flight risks.