Supreme Court judges. A special sitting of the Judicial Service
Commission summoned by the Chief Justice Willy Mutunga will on January
27, 2016 decide the fate of Supreme Court judge Philip Tunoi in a Sh200
million corruption case. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will convene a special
sitting Wednesday to determine the fate of a Supreme Court judge amid
panic over a Sh200 million bribery report.
And
there are questions about who will sit in the special committee given
four JSC members were directly involved in the election petition in
which Nairobi governor Dr Evans Kidero allegedly bribed Justice Philip
Tunoi.
A source said panic among
judicial staff is caused by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga’s decision to
forward the investigation report on Justice Tunoi’s bribery case to the
Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption
Commission for action.
“There is
panic everywhere due to uncertainty of what is contained in the report.
Everyone in anxious because the report might contain a recommendation to
charge other people who may have been involved in the network,” said a
source who wished not to be named.
Dr
Mutunga said he had read the report by the Director of Criminal
Investigations and concluded he will forward it to EACC, the DPP and the
JSC to form part of their discussion.
WAITITU'S PETITION
The
CJ, Supreme Court Judge Smokin Wanjala, Court of Appeal Judge Mohammed
Warsame and lawyer Tom Ojienda are all JSC members who were involved in
the petition against Dr Kidero.
Although
Dr Mutunga did not sit in the bench that delivered the final decision
to uphold the governor’s election, he was involved as the president of
the Supreme Court.
Justice Wanjala was part of the five-judge bench that delivered the ruling.
He,
alongside Justices Jackton Ojwang, Mohammed Ibrahim and Tunoi had a
concurrent opinion to uphold Dr Kidero’s election, while Lady Justice
Njoki Ndung’u dissented.
Justice Warsame was among the Court of Appeal bench that decided Dr Kidero’s fate.
He
had a dissenting ruling against his two colleagues, Justices GBM
Kariuki and Patrick Kiage who nullified the governor’s election.
Prof Ojienda represented the governor in the petition, from the High Court to the Supreme Court.
Other
JSC members are Attorney General Githu Muigai, Justice Aggrey
Muchelule, chief magistrate Emily Ominde, lawyer Florence Mwangangi,
Prof Margaret Kobia, Mr Kipng’etich Bett and Ms Winifred Guchu.
PRECEDENT
Judiciary
sources said this was the first time the CJ made public his request to
DCIO to conduct investigations against a judge accused of bribery.
“There
are several cases where the JSC received corruption cases against
judges but the reports have never been forwarded to EACC or the DPP. The
complaints normally go through normal disciplinary processes and if the
judge is found guilty, the JSC recommends their suspension,” said the
source.
Justice Tunoi is alleged to
have received $2 million (Sh202 million) bribe from Dr Kidero to
influence the outcome of the petition filed in 2013 by Kabete MP
Ferdinand Waititu.
The bribery
scandal was brought to light by Mr Geoffrey Kiplagat, who in November
last year, filed an affidavit detailing how he connected Justice Tunoi
and Dr Kidero.
Mr Kiplagat said
the scandal started in May 2014 when he received a call from businessman
Michael Njeru asking him if he could connect him with Justice Tunoi to
help in the case against Dr Kidero.
Mr
Kiplagat said they later devised a network of secret communication
between him and the judge, Mr Njeru and Dr Kidero’s personal assistant
John Osogo until the money was delivered to the judge at a petrol
station.
0 comments:
Post a Comment