Judicial Service Commission to hear Gladys Shollei case in camera

By Pamela Chepkemei

KENYA: The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has rejected Chief Registrar of Judiciary Gladys Shollei’s plea to state her defence in public, stoking controversy ahead of today’s crucial proceedings.

Shollei’s lawyer, Donald Kipkorir, had applied for the session and all other subsequent ones to be public as envisaged by the letter and spirit of the constitution.

“It is only a public hearing that guarantees transparency and lets the public have confidence in our judicial institutions. Transparency is the hallmark of justice,” Kipkorir wrote yesterday in the letter addressed to Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, the chairman of JSC. The letter is copied to Shollei.

All facets

But yesterday, JSC said it would hear Shollei’s responses to allegations levelled against her in camera. The Judiciary’s director of communication, Naim Bilal, told The Standard the hearing would not be public.

In the letter, Shollei’s lawyer had indicated, “We shall raise issues of jurisdiction, in all facets in limine before our client begins her oral submissions.”

JSC has accused Shollei of contravening procurement and employment laws. Mrs Shollei has, however, accused commission members of witch-hunting.