Gachagua lawyers signal that he will appeal DCJ Mwilu ruling

Lawyers of impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua have signalled that he will appeal a High Court ruling that found Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu had properly appointed a three-judge bench to handle petitions touching on his ouster.

"Obviously the decision is that of the client. But I will certainly be seeking to persuade my client (to appeal)," said Senior Counsel Paul Muite.

Moments before, the bench had found that there was no issue with DCJ Mwilu carrying out administrative functions of the Chief Justice.

In a decision read by Justice Anthony Mrima, the judges found that although previous rulings have taken two diametrically different positions on the matter, their finding was that DCJ Mwilu acted within her powers.

"The CJ empaneled this very bench to deal with 6 constitutional petitions that challenge the petitioner's impeachment at the National Assembly. On October 18, the DCJ empaneled the same bench to deal with petitions challenging impeachment of the petitioner at the Senate," he said.

"We don't find any fault with the DCJ assigning judges to sit in this bench, moreso when the CJ has not raised any red flag."

No five-judge bench

On the matter of whether the matter can be heard by a five-judge bench, the court also rejected the request by Mr Gachagua's team on grounds that it was overtaken by events.

"The request for a 5-judge bench has been overtaken by events unless he (Rigathi Gachagua) wants to appeal," said Justice Eric Ogola.

To this, lawyer Kibe Mungai, who is also representing Mr Gachagua, responded:

"The chances of an appeal are very high."