Chief Justice Martha Koome has agreed to a meeting with Prof PLO Lumumba over alleged incidents of corruption at the Judiciary.
While agreeing to Prof Lumumba's request, Justice Koome also invited Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Faith Odhiambo, a representative of the senior counsel bar, heads of courts and members of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to the meeting.
In a letter dated December 5, Prof Lumumba had requested a meeting to share his concerns and “discuss ways and means of redeeming the image and integrity of the Judiciary”.
“In response to Prof PLO Lumumba’s request for an audience and in a bid to develop a comprehensive roadmap to address these persistent allegations and further safeguard the integrity of the Judiciary, I have accepted and convened a consultative meeting to comprehensively discuss concerns on integrity,” said the CJ.
Justice Koome said the agenda of the meeting includes the development of a comprehensive roadmap to ensure that graft-related complaints from members of the public and legal profession are immediately actioned by the JSC.
The team will also get an update on the progress of complaints currently before the JSC, as well as an update on the mechanisms adopted by Judiciary to address corruption and enhance accountability.
The CJ also directed the Secretary of the JSC to deploy an investigative team to engage with senior counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, with a view to obtaining more information on allegations of corruption against judges, which he posted about on his social media account on X (formerly Twitter).
Justice Koome asked Mr Abdullahi to cooperate with the officers from the JSC “if indeed the allegations made are in good faith and with a view to ensuring that the Judiciary operates in an open and transparent manner”.
She said the commission will continually inform the public on the progress made while providing monthly updates on the status of complaints before the JSC.
Justice Koome further forwarded Prof Lumumba’s letter to the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) “for in-depth investigations to enable the JSC to proceed as required by the Constitution and the law”.
The CJ noted that a total of 141 petitions were received touching on the conduct of judges, out of which 70 were concluded during the 2023/2024 financial year.
“The Commission also registered 116 disciplinary cases against staff, the most common of which was absence from duty at 58 complaints. 11 complaints touched on soliciting and receiving a bribe. Out of these cases, 51 have been concluded,” she said.
