New police station at Milimani court to mitigate delays
A new high security police station has been established at Milimani law courts complex, to hold suspects awaiting arraignment and those arrested within the court precincts.
The new station will also hold suspects detained by the courts to enable investigative agencies to complete investigations, instead of transferring them to other stations within Nairobi including Capitol Hill, Kileleshwa, Pangani, Muthaiga, and Gigiri police stations, among others.
“Suspects brought from other stations within the country awaiting to be arraigned and those arrested with any offence within the court premises, will now be brought to this new station, where they will be processed within a few minutes and arraigned immediately without further delay,” a source at the court told People Daily.
According to Police headquarters, the newly established station will help in speedy prosecution of cases.
“Because of logistical challenges, the new station will help reduce risk associated with delay in arraigning suspects,” said the officer.
Other suspects expected to be held at the station are those facing graft charges and all criminal cases including murder, contempt of court proceedings, drugs and land related offences.
The new station has been established at the new Anti-Corruption Court Building formerly known as Forodha House, which was taken over by the Judiciary last year.
Head of the unit
The station, to be headed by a commandant, is expected to be launched officially later this month by the Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai and Chief Justice (CJ) Martha Koome.
The station is located on the first floor of the building while the cells are on the basement.
Currently, Milimani Law Courts has a holding cell at the court basement, where suspects are detained pending their appearance in court.
The suspects comprise those waiting for mentions, hearing and those to be arraigned for purposes of taking plea.
The cells have been holding suspects, even those brought from prison facilities.
The creation of the new station comes barely a month after the National Police Service formed a new police unit, the Judicial Police Unit (JPU) that will protect judicial officers and the Judiciary premises, following consultations between CJ Koome and IG Mutyambai.
Government installations
The unit comprises officers drawn from the regular police and the Administration Police (AP) Service.
The JPU officers will perform roles similar to those executed by their colleagues attached to Parliament Police Unit and others tasked with protecting key government installations.
A senior AP officer, Lazarus Opicho, has been appointed the head of the unit and will be based at the Judiciary.
The 2019 police restructuring has led to lack of conflicts and overlapping mandates where police units focus on their core mandates.
The AP, for example, is now completely specialised and focusing on its core mandate including border patrols, guarding critical infrastructure and dealing with stock theft.
