On May 2nd, 2024, in a press statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Kenya), it was announced that charges under the Bribery Act had been recommended for a court assistant working at Migori Law Courts. Shadrack Odhiambo is reported to have requested a bribe of KES 100, 000 (USD $750) from an accused person looking for a lighter sentence. The Migori Law courts are located close to the Tanzanian border and have had their share of ivory trafficking prosecutions.
There are a number of things missing from the statement; the agency that made the arrest, the date charges will be laid, and in which court will that take place. The most important question, however? In whose court and for which magistrate does he work?
In Kenyan courts, the court assistant is the person who sits at the front of the court, typically just in front or below the presiding magistrate. They may also be referred to as court clerks. They are the guardians of the court files. During a court proceedings, they pass files to the Magistrate to deal with and receive them back when he/she is finished. They are considered integral to a court proceeding and the name of the court assistant is written just below the name of presiding magistrate in the notes taken of a particular sitting (see depiction below).
All this to say is that the court assistant is an important cog in the process and works closely with their assigned magistrate. If a court assistant is taking a bribe to fix or lighten a sentence, the likelihood that he/she is working as a broker for their magistrate is very high. In this particular case, Shadrack Odhiambo, was almost certainly doing this for his assigned magistrate. The prosecutor who works that particular courtroom could also be involved.
It is not often that one hears of a court assistant being charged for bribery but this activity is not uncommon and they are invariably not acting alone. This past January an unnamed court assistant in Makadara court (Nairobi) was arrested by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for allegedly demanding a KES 400,000 bribe. The court assistant was arrested on receiving a KES 50,000 down payment.
These are the same courts where wildlife crime cases are adjudicated. The ODPP, through this press statement, want the public to believe they are committed to routing out abuse of the legal process. Surely the litmus test would be when the magistrate’s name appears on the same charge sheet.
Migori Court Assistant to be charged with obtaining a bribe
by KEN MUTHOMI
