Kenya: Court Allows Continued Detention of 'Mathee Wa Ngara' in Drugs Case

23 August 2023

Nairobi — A Nairobi court has allowed continued detention of Nancy Kigunzu alias Mathee wa Ngara for five days as police finalize investigations in a drug trafficking case.

JKIA-based Senior Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku Wednesday ruled that the State's application to detain Kigunzu for five days was merited.

"Having gone through the submissions by both parties, I find that the prosecution application to detain the respondent is merited," Thuku said.

"The suspect is to be detained at Muthaiga Police Station for five days to allow police to complete their investigations."

Thuku made the orders even as he slated a mention on August 28 when the court will give further directions.

Kigunzu was arrested on Monday after detectives trailed her for hours.

The arrest came hours after she moved to court to stop her imminent arrest as she claimed that the DCI agents were seeking to prefer trumped-up charges against her.

Advocate Shanice Maingi told the court her client was being used as a 'scapegoat'.

Maingi said her client is a law-abiding citizen, and she failed to understand why the police were pursuing her.

"I have never committed any crime in Kenya, nor have I been involved in any criminal activity in Kenya neither personally nor jointly with others and I therefore do not understand why the police are looking to arrest me," she said in court papers filed at Nairobi's Milimani Law Courts.

Kigunzu went into hiding for a week after police raided her den in Ngara and recovered Sh12.9 million in cash along with 26 bags of Marijuana and four cartons of rolling materials.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.