Court temporarily halts lawyer’s plea-taking in Ksh100M Karen land dispute
By Zipporah Ngwatu, March 6, 2026A Nairobi Court of Appeal has temporarily halted the plea taking of prominent lawyer Guy Spencer Elms at the Milimani Magistrates’ Court in a Ksh100 million Karen land dispute.
Lawyer Spencer is facing criminal proceedings linked to a complaint by businesswoman and politician Agnes Kagure Kariuki concerning a British billionaire’s will in the Karen land dispute.
In the order dated February 23, 2026, Court of Appeal judges Patrick Omwenga Kiage, Jamila Mohammed and Linnet Ndolo directed that the status quo be maintained pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
“That pending the hearing and determination of the appeal, the status quo shall be maintained, meaning that there shall be no taking of a plea or other proceedings at the magistrates’ court pending the hearing,” the judges ordered.
Move to withdraw charges
The Court of Appeal order came after the High Court, on January 27, 2026, declined an application by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) seeking to withdraw criminal charges against Guy Spencer.
In his judgement, Judge Martin Muya stated that learned trial magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi did not err in his ruling while declining the DPP’s application.
When the matter came up for directions on plea taking on Thursday, March 5, 2026, the High Court heard that the appellate court has temporarily stopped the plea taking until an application filed before it is heard and determined.
Appearing before Milimani Principal Magistrate Carolyne Nyaguthii Mugo, Spencer’s lawyer informed the court that the Court of Appeal had marked the appeal as urgent and shall be processed for hearing on an expedited basis.
Further, the defence requested the court to grant the higher court adequate time to hear the appeal and deliver judgement, adding that the whole proceedings might go on up to sometime in September 2026.
“Your honour, the records are still being compiled, and it will take time for the hearing to proceed and a judgement to be given. The Court of Appeal usually takes about 90 days for a judgement, so we are suggesting that this matter can be mentioned in September,” Spencer’s lawyer submitted to the court.
The prosecution confirmed that the defence had served the court with the Court of Appeal’s appeal order, adding that the State is not objecting to the defence’s request for the matter to be mentioned in September.
The court directed that the matter be mentioned on September 30, 2026.