Nominee in trouble over Justice Aaron Ringera verdict

By Rushdie Oudia

Kisumu, Kenya: The judicial vetting conducted by the Ringera Committee has come back to haunt a Kisumu Public Service Board (PSB) nominee.

The area appointment committee asked Betty Asuna to explain why she applied for the PSB job when she had been declared unfit to hold office.

Ms Asuna was among the judicial officers dismissed after Justice Aaron Ringera, who spearheaded the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Committee of the Judiciary, found malpractices at the institution.

Asuna, who appeared before the appointment committee during vetting of the PSB nominees, said Ringera and the anti-corruption committee denied her a chance to be heard, therefore leading to her retirement as a magistrate.

The embattled nominee, who worked in Thika for 10 years, accused the tribunal of being unfair.

“The tribunal accused me of not being fair in a ruling against a particular George Thuo and having favoured a lawyer in an accident case,” she said, adding that her option then was retirement like some of her colleagues because the atmosphere at the time would have made an appeal futile.