Ex-CJ Maraga speaks: Bid to remove Supreme Court judges is dishonest, for personal gain
Former Chief Justice David Maraga has termed the bid to oust Supreme Court judges, including CJ Martha Koome, as dishonest and meant to "achieve selfish gains".
Speaking on Thursday during the People dialogue Festival at Uhuru Park, he noted that the allegations thrown at the apex court were flimsy.
"The problem is that we have people coming up with false allegations which are not there. You need to read the petitions that have been filed against the judges of the Supreme Court and see where the problem is," he said.
"If the petitions would have been solved by those authorities where those petitions are supposed to be addressed, then the problem would have been solved. It is a question of dishonesty for personal gain or to assist others to achieve a political end."
JSC process
Supreme Court judges are currently fighting for their jobs following a bid to oust them over alleged misconduct.
The motion filed at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is against the entire seven-judge bench - CJ Koome, Deputy CJ Philomena Mwilu, Justices Mohammed Ibrahim, Njoki Ndung’u, Smokin Wanjala, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko.
They are all at the High Court, before Justice Lawrence Mugambi, fighting the JSC process.
The ouster petitions originated from a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court judges in January last year to ban lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi over his social media posts regarding the top court. The ban also extended to other lawyers working at Mr Ahmednasir’s law firm – Ahmednasir Abdullahi Advocates LLP.
This triggered complaints by Mr Havi and lawyer Christopher Rosana alleging incompetence and misconduct by the entire bench. The duo separately asked the JSC to remove the entire bench from office.
The third ouster petition concerns the Supreme Court’s ruling on a commercial dispute pitting former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju’s Dari Limited and the East African Development Bank over a Sh4.5 billion loan.