Wheels of Justice
The High Court is today expected to hear petitions filed by Chief Justice Martha Koome and four others who have since obtained orders suspending proceedings before the JSC that seek their removal from offices.
The cases which had been filed separately have since been consolidated and will be heard as one as they raise similar issues.
Koome in her papers argues that the JSC lacks the authority and the constitutional mandate to entertain any such claims against her, or any judges of the Supreme Court.
She asserts that the power to remove a judge is narrowly defined by the Constitution, specifically under Article 168(1) of the Constitution.
Koome argues that none of these grounds are applicable in her case, and stresses that the JSC has no jurisdiction over decisions made by the Supreme Court in the lawful exercise of its constitutional role as outlined in Article 163.
The two petitions pending before the JSC against the Supreme Court judges were filed by city lawyers Nelson Havi and Christopher Rosana.
Havi’s petition challenges the conduct of Supreme Court judges during the March 2022 BBI judgment delivery.
Meanwhile, Rosana’s petition addresses the JSC’s ban on the Ahmednasir Abdullahi law firm, a move she (Koome) believes warrants judicial scrutiny.
Justice Isaac Lenaola on the other hand has criticised the JSC for failing to protect judicial officers from “persistent vilifying speeches” disguised as “exercising freedom of expression.”
He proceeds to state that the deliberate campaigns and attacks against the judges constitute a serious attack on the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of the judicial process.
"The actions threaten to abolish the Supreme Court established by law by seeking removal of the entire bench of seven judges through unconstitutional means," he remarks.
Only the petitions filed by DCJ Philomena Mwilu and Judge Mohamed Ibrahim are not before Judge Mugambi.
These two are pending a ruling before Justice Bahati Mwamuye on the question of jurisdiction and whether the petitions raise weighty issues for them to be handled by more than one Judge.
The ruling is set for April 3.
