NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 3 – Criminal investigations into the alleged forgery of testamentary documents linked to the estate of former Attorney General James Boro Karugu have stalled after suspects obtained ex parte court orders barring their arrest and prosecution.
The orders restrain the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) from arraigning the suspects, despite prosecutors having already approved criminal charges.
Lawyers acting for the complainant, Murgor & Murgor Advocates, have accused senior legal counsel of interfering with the investigation and frustrating the criminal justice process.
In a letter to the DPP dated January 22, 2026, the firm said the timing of the court orders was deliberate and designed to pre-empt imminent prosecution.
According to the lawyers, a review of the High Court’s e-filing system revealed that the suspects had moved to court and secured conservatory orders shortly before they were due to be charged.
The dispute centres on a will and trust allegedly executed on April 2, 2014, relating to Karugu, who served as Kenya’s Attorney General between 1980 and 1981. Investigators are probing claims that the documents were forged — an offence that attracts a life sentence under Kenyan law.
The complainant’s lawyers say forensic examinations conducted independently by a private document examiner and by DCI forensic experts reached the same conclusion: that both documents were not genuine.
Despite these findings, the suspects were never presented in court.
The lawyers further allege that senior DCI officials admitted halting the arraignment process following direct intervention by senior counsel Fred Ojiambo SC.
According to the letter, DCI Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin allegedly confirmed that he instructed a senior officer to suspend the arraignment after Ojiambo requested time to present the suspects in court. The process was later stopped altogether after conservatory orders were served on the DCI.
The letter also accuses Ojiambo of previously obstructing investigations by declining to produce the original will for forensic examination. In correspondence dated May 12, 2025, he reportedly claimed that the document was being held by his firm, Kaplan & Stratton Advocates, under the authority of the succession court — a claim the complainant’s lawyers say was false.
They argue that no court order existed authorising the firm to withhold the document and that the conduct amounted to interference with lawful investigations.
The lawyers further fault what they describe as attempts to reopen concluded forensic examinations by proposing fresh tests by mutually agreed experts, arguing that the DCI had already completed its analysis.
They maintain that succession courts lack the technical capacity to determine document authenticity and routinely rely on forensic reports prepared by DCI specialists in forgery cases.
According to the complainant, investigations into the alleged forgery have been ongoing since 2023 and have featured prominently in an active succession case, with the suspects fully aware of and participating in the process.
Murgor & Murgor Advocates say their client is considering legal action to challenge the ex parte orders, citing material non-disclosure and misrepresentation, and plans to apply to be enjoined in the petition as an interested party.
Police have not commented publicly on the allegations, but investigations into the matter remain formally open.