Court rules against release of robbery inmates after DPP used unconstitutional sections to charge them
By Zipporah Ngwatu, January 28, 2026A Nairobi High Court has refused to issue an order releasing robbery with violence convicts even after finding out that the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) has been using unlawful sections to charge them.
The ruling comes after seven people accused in the murder of the former Kabete Member of Parliament, the late George Muchai, moved to court challenging a robbery with violence case they are facing at the lower court.
Milimani High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi, in his ruling on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, stated that releasing the convicts will put the public in danger from the free convicts.
Further, Judge Mugambi noted that an order to free the inmates will also interrupt the criminal justice system.
The court order for the release of the robbery with violence convicts would have led to over 3,000 inmates being free from jail.
However, Mugambi conceded that the DPP has been using unconstitutional sections to charge robbery with violence suspects since 2016, when court declared those sections unconstitutional.
After declaring the sections unconstitutional, the court directed the amendment to the law for charging robbery with violence suspects by the National Assembly.
In his ruling, Justice Mugambi has also condemned the Attorney General (AG) for failing to comply with the 2016 directive to approach the August House within 18 months to amend the law.
Further, he has directed the government to amend the section of the said law within 18 months of today’s ruling.
Notably, he had suspended the declaration of invalidity of the law until June 30, 2027, giving the state time to amend it.
“From midnight on June 30, 2027, any pending or fresh charges, prosecutions, or convictions founded solely on Sections 295 and 297 will be quashed for unconstitutionality, and any person held exclusively under those provisions will be released,” Justice Mugambi ruled.