Judge pulls out of Joho appeal case

Mombasa county governor Ali Hassan Joho

A Mombasa appellate court judge has pulled out of case in which the State lodged an appeal against a 2017 High Court order barring harassment of Governor Hassan Joho over alleged forgery.

Three judges had been appointed to listen to the State’s appeal but yesterday the matter could not proceed after Justice Wanjiru Karanja disqualified herself on grounds she was the governor’s neighbour.

“I wish to withdraw from participating in the hearing of the appeal because the defendant is my neighbour,” said Justice Wanjiru.

Justice Alnashir Visram and Justice Martha Koome adjourned the case until another bench is constituted.

Last year, the High Court ruled that a series of simultaneous investigations into Joho’s tax, birth and education records were politically motivated.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission claimed it was investigating the governor over an alleged forgery of a Form Four certificate acquired in 1993.