Man seeks to stop appointment of 3 appellate judges

Man seeks to stop appointment of 3 appellate judges

A man has moved to court seeking to bar the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) from announcing the results of the interviews for the appointment of Court of Appeal Judges.

Zack Kinuthia filed an application under a Certificate of Urgency at the High court in Nairobi yesterday.

“Pending the hearing and determination of this petition JSC be barred from declaring the results of interviews of judges seeking to be appointed as Court of Appeal judges who are Mumbi Ngugi, Omondi Hellen and Tuiyott Francis,” said Kinuthia.

He said that on June 10, 2019 he lodged a petition for the removal of office of five High Court judges who are H.A Omondi, Mumbi Ngugi, Francis Tuiyott, Chacha Mwita and W.M Musyoka.

“The said petition was triggered by the judgement of the High Court of Kenya in petition 295/2018 Hon Philomena Mwilu Vs the Director of Public Prosecutions delivered by the five-judge bench on May 31, 2019,” said Kinuthia.

He said that the above judges were interviewed for purposes of filling the vacancies in the Court of Appeal.

The petitioner claims that JSC might determine the successful candidate any time and, therefore, there is an urgent need for the court's intervention. He said this would ensure that the petition for removal from office of the three candidates is considered prior to any decisions appointing them as Court of Appeal judges.

He said Article 3(1) of the Constitution states that every person has an obligation to respect and uphold the supreme law.

Kinuthia said he has written to JSC opposing the candidature of the three.