Ruling on graft suspects stay in office raises legal and political concerns

On July 24, Justice Mumbi Ngugi rendered a decision which will continue to cause momentous reverberations in the political sphere. Interestingly, the issue before Judge Mumbi was quite innocuous. Samburu Governor’s lawyers had sought the court’s review of his bail terms which had required that he does not access his office during trial, arguing interalia that they resulted in defacto suspension of the Governor from office in a manner not anticipated by the Constitution. In normal circumstances a Judge would either have agreed with the request or denied it and left it at that. But Judge Mumbi has never been a rank and file judge.

She has been responsible for some of the best considered judgements on human rights and waded into areas that other Judges are hesitant. She has been honoured by both the International Court of Justice and Law Society of Kenya as “bold, courageous and independent in her judgements and rulings and for “breathing life into the law even as she challenges and coaxes our thinking.”