Five sacked judges want Attorney General Githu Muigai held for disregarding court order

By Isaiah Lucheli

NAIROBI, KENYA: Five judges sacked on the recommendation of the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board want the Attorney General to be held in contempt of court.

Appellate judges Riaga Amollo, Samuel Bosire and Joseph Nyamu and High Court judge Jeanne Gacheche, who were found to be unsuitable to continue serving on the bench, told the court that they had been removed from the Judiciary payroll despite a court order.

“The judges were removed from the Judiciary payroll despite an order by this honourable Court of Appeal made on November 26 last year to the effect that the judges should not be affected, they were not to be degazetted and therefore to retain their full status as judges with remuneration intact,” they argued.

The judicial staff, represented by lawyers John Khaminwa, Stephen Mwenesi, Ochieng Oduol, Katwa Kigen and Paul Gicheru, told a five-judge Bench that an appeal filed by Law Society of Kenya over a High Court ruling was frivolous and lacked merit.

Mwenesi submitted that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was also in contempt and had failed to perform its constitutional duty to observe and ensure the enforcement of the orders of the Court of Appeal.

“The AG as a member of the JSC and as the principal legal advisor of the Government and as a representative of the national government in this proceedings together with JSC have failed in their constitutional duty and in their duty to uphold the rule of law and defend and improve the efficiency of the administration of justice,” said Mwenesi.

Judges Patrick Kiage, Agnes Murgor, Fatuma Sichale, Jamila Mohamed and Prof James Odek heard that the vetting board was a tribunal just like any other and its decision could be reviewed by the High Court.