By MURIMI MWANGI
NYERI COUNTY: A High Court judge has disqualified himself from handling a case in which more than 600 villagers have sued the Catholic Church over 2,761 acres of land, allegedly stolen during the country’s state of emergency.
Justice Anthony Ombwayo of the Environment and Land Division of the Nyeri High Court disqualified himself from the case he previously handled while an advocate for a party in the suit.
The judge directed that the case be transferred to the Kerugoya High Court to prevent the likelihood of any of the parties crying foul after conclusion.
Mr Ombwayo told the court yesterday that he had previously represented the Attorney General in a suit relating to the same land dispute, and this warranted his excusal from handling the matter.
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GRABBED LAND
“Although no record shows I had signed any court papers in the suit, a right-thinking man would see the likelihood of bias,” said Ombwayo.
In the suit, the villagers claim they represent a generation of more than 4,000 people whose ancestral land was allegedly grabbed by Italian missionaries, working in cahoots with the colonial government during the state of emergency.
The excusal of the judge came after he consolidated the Nyeri case with another from the Nairobi High Court, in which he had previously represented the AG.
COURT PROGRESS
Lawyer Gikandi Ngibuini, representing petitioners in the Nairobi suit told the court that ‘no person should be a judge in his own case’, so Ombwayo was obligated to excuse himself from the case.
The church’s lawyer Simon Wekesa, while rooting for the consolidation of the two cases despite the involvement of the judge, said there is need for all disputes in both suits to be heard conclusively.
The judge’s directive to transfer the case to Kerugoya, nearly 50 kilometres away, caused immediate displeasure among the villagers in the courtroom who feared they may not keep track of its progress. Their Lawyer, Wanyiri Kihoro said the village folk wanted the case to be heard at a place where they are present in court.
“Right now we are being sent to Kerugoya. Next will probably be Meru or Isiolo. How many of these elderly people will even afford fare to travel there?” he posed.
The parties resolved to schedule a mention date for the case at the Kerugoya Court, to persuade the judge to travel to Nyeri and hear the matter there.
