A magistrate warmed Kenyans' hearts after she moved the court proceedings to the parking lot to aid a stranded witness testifying in a case.
In the video that went viral on social media, Senior Resident Magistrate Daffline Nyaboke asked the court staff at the Engineer Law Courts in Nyandarua County to set up a station at the parking lot.
According to a statement issued by the Judiciary on Thursday, October 13, the witness, an elderly woman, could not access the courtroom due to a medical condition.
"The magistrate conducted the hearing of a case at the client waiting bay for a witness who was totally incapacitated and could not get out of the vehicle," the judiciary stated.
The court clerk called the witness to give her account on the related case, with Nyaboke taking down notes of the same.
A number of Kenyans commended the magistrate for her humane gesture while executing her duty. Others narrated personal encounters with her in the corridors of justice terming her as a competent public servant.
"She is one magistrate that should be promoted. I had a case that had lasted four years before she was posted there and she concluded the case within less than a year," Karanja Jeff stated.
Consequently, they appealed to her employer, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to give her a promotion for her service.
A law graduate from the University of Nairobi, Daffline Nyaboke also served as a legal counsel working with the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya.
The Senior Resident Magistrate has served in several courts including the Kahawa (2013) and Wanguru Law Courts. In 2013, she was appointed by former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga as magistrate to preside over cases involving children.
"The Chief Justice appoints the following Magistrates to preside over cases involving children in the areas of jurisdiction of their current court station and future stations deployed to from time to time with effect from November 1, 2013," the Gazette notice read in part.
