Court upholds arrest warrant of man charged with impersonating advocate

Brian Mwenda

Brian Mwenda at Milimani Law Courts on October 18, 2023 on charges of forging Law Society of Kenya Certificate of Practice as an advocate of the High Court. He faces five more other charges.

Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group

The High Court has declined to lift a warrant for the arrest issued against Brian Mwenda Njagi, a man who was charged last year with impersonating an advocate.

Instead, Justice Nixon Sifuna directed Mr Mwenda to present himself at the Muthaiga Police Station for his arrest. The court ordered him to present himself by midday. 

The judge added that Mr Mwenda will then be presented before the Makadara Law Court on Wednesday, for plea taking.

The judge wondered how Mwenda vanished from the court precincts on December 14, 2023 when his case was called by the trial magistrate. 

" I find the manner in which he hurriedly and dramatically left the court precincts is suspect and bordering on a pre-meditated scheme that this court will neither support nor sanitise," said the Judge.

Through his lawyer, Mr Mwenda pleaded with the judge to lift the warrant, promising to present himself before the magistrate for plea taking. He denied claims that he was playing 'hide and seek' with the prosecution. 

Mr Mwenda was charged in October last year with six counts including forging a certificate for admission to practice law as an advocate, identity theft and uttering a false document. 

Justice Sifuna said if Mwenda fails to present himself to the police, he should be arrested and presented to the nearest police station.