Former Judiciary Chief Registrar Gladys Shollei to move to Supreme Court over sack

Nairobi, Kenya: Former Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Gladys Shollei will move to the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of three Appeal Court Judges that was passed on Friday.

Shollei through her lawyer Donald kipkorir will be presenting to the highest court in the country that the appellate Judges GBM Kariuki, Patrick Kiage and Hannah Okwengu had erred in finding that Judicial Service Commission had fairly dismissed her from office.

"We will move to the Supreme Court within 14 days," Kipkorir said.

The three-judge in their decision allowed the appeal by JSC but unanimously agreed that Labour Relations and Employment Court which was then called Industrial Court had the jurisdiction to listen to the case by Shollei.

JSC through their lawyer Paul Muite and Issa Mansur had submitted that Justice Nduma Nderi ought not to have entertained the case by Shollei as it was about infringement of her rights to fair-hearing.

"The Industrial court has the same status to the High Court which gives it equal mandate to listen to issues affecting the rights of an individual. The constitution does not reserve the decision to a single court but to all Courts," the Judges ruled.

Justice Nderi in his ruling had found that JSC had defied the law since the Chief Justice Willy Mutunga-led commission had failed to set up a disciplinary committee as provided by Judicial Service Act and instead turned itself into a disciplinary committee.

Nderi in his judgment that crushed the removal of Shollei also questioned why Mutunga failed to disqualify himself from the case even after the former CRJ raised adverse issues against him and some of the commissioners who sat in to listen to her.

The former registrar lamented that she was denied her rights to public hearing in violation of the constitution.

"The Chief Justice is prohibited in to sit in a disciplinary panel. The court fails to understand why he insisted on chairing the panel even after allegations of bias had been made against him and was specifically requested to consider recusing himself," Nderi said.

The Court also heard that investigation bodies were not given time to probe the authenticity of the claims by JSC and submit on the real story.

She says the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission was not given time to probe allegations of corruption leveled against her.Shollei in her case had indicated that she was not looking for reinstatement but to give her side of the story.