The High Court in Nairobi has dismissed an application by Desmond Omollo Ogutu seeking to terminate criminal proceedings over alleged forged international vaccination certificates and vaccine stamps linked to Wilson Airport, allowing the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to proceed with the trial at Kahawa Law Courts.
Ogutu, 28, faces charges of making false documents and forgery over six international vaccination certificates allegedly made without lawful authority and six injectable polio vaccine impressions purportedly issued by Port Health Services at Wilson Airport, Nairobi.
According to the prosecution, by Abdalla Lyaga, the alleged offences occurred between July 1 and August 8, 2025, when Ogutu, jointly with other persons who have not been brought before the court, allegedly made six international vaccination certificates purporting to have originated from Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital.
He is also accused of forging six injectable polio vaccine impressions on international vaccination certificates, allegedly intending to defraud and pass the documents off as genuine for official purposes.
The charges include making a false document, contrary to Section 347(a), as read with Section 349 of the Penal Code, and forgery, contrary to Section 352(a) of the same law.
In seeking to stop the prosecution, Ogutu challenged the legality of a police search at his home, arguing that officers raided the premises without a search warrant and recovered documents subsequently relied upon as evidence in the criminal case.
He contended that evidence obtained in violation of his rights should not be admitted in court and denied knowledge of the documents.
The DPP opposed the application, relying on Section 57 of the National Police Service Act, 2011, which provides for warrantless entry into premises in specified circumstances, subject to applicable legal and constitutional safeguards.
The prosecution argued that such entry may be permitted where obtaining a warrant could jeopardise an investigation.
The High Court’s dismissal of the application clears the way for the criminal proceedings to continue at Kahawa Law Courts. The ruling does not determine Ogutu’s guilt and the allegations against him remain subject to proof during trial.
Ogutu had sued the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Milimani, the Inspector General of Police, the DPP and the Director of Criminal Investigations in challenging the proceedings.
Ogutu was arrested by detectives from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) in August 2025 over investigations into the alleged production of counterfeit health documents and stamps linked to Wilson Airport.
On August 21, 2025, detectives said they recovered a counterfeit Port Health Services seal, stamps marked “Injectable Polio Vaccine” and “Stamaril Pasteur”, and stamps bearing the names of Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital and Dr Desmond Ogutu.
The reported items also included 274 blank international vaccination certificates and 91 single-dose vaccination cards.
Investigators reportedly linked the suspected documents to vaccination certificates recovered from six Somali nationals intercepted at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on August 8, 2025, in connection with an alleged attempt to travel to Libya through Egypt.
The reported recovery and the allegations against Ogutu form part of the background to the case, but do not establish his guilt.
