A second warrant of arrest has been issued against Brian Mwenda, who is charged with, among other things, impersonation, after he failed to turn up in court for a hearing earlier today.
Mwenda was set to appear before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Lukas Onyina to face six counts of falsifying a document and practising without a license.
In a statement, the Law Society of Kenya said, “A warrant of arrest has been issued against masquerader Brian Mwenda after he failed to turn up in court before Hon. Onyina for a hearing, earlier today.”
This comes after The Makadara Law Courts in January, issued an arrest warrant for Mwenda directing him to appear at the Muthaiga Police Station.
The warrant was issued after Mwenda failed to appear in court for plea-taking. He was to be charged with the offence of masquerading as an advocate.
It is alleged that Mwenda "not being a person qualified as an advocate, appeared in court and represented a suspect in a criminal matter in September last year at the Makadara Law courts" But he allegedly failed to appear for plea taking.
A warrant was subsequently issued.
Mwenda then filed a motion at the High Court to vacate the warrant, stating that he was having a panic attack while in court.
However, the judge denied his request, saying Mwenda was not present in court when his file was called for a plea bargain.
"Had it been issued while the accused was in the dock, I would have held it to have been issued improperly and would have set it aside. But in this case, the said warrant was duly issued," the Judge said.
In his arraignment in October 2023, Mwenda denied all charges.
Mwenda is accused of impersonating an LSK Nairobi Branch member and an advocate for the High Court of Kenya.
Despite the allegations, Mwenda has maintained that his activity has been beyond reproach and that he had successfully handled 26 cases at various judicial levels.
The mention date is slated for 25th March 2024.
