NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 6 – The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has spotlighted four judges for their questionable conduct.
The Commission on Tuesday led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, submitted four petitions to President William Ruto, urging him to establish a tribunal to investigate their conduct.
Chief Justice Koome revealed that the four petitions stemmed from the 85 complaints submitted to the Commission.
Among those slated to appear before the tribunal, once established, are Environment and Land Court Judge Justice Mohammed Noor Kullow and Principal Magistrate Patrick Wambugu.
Justice Kullow is accused of delaying or failing to deliver rulings or judgments in a total of 116 cases.
Five petitions had been presented before the Commission on his removal.
“The Commission was satisfied that 3 out of the 5 petitions as well as the proceedings at the Commission’s motion had disclosed grounds for his removal from office over gross misconduct; incompetence and violation of the Judicial Service Code of Conduct,” Koome said adding that “two Petitions were dismissed for failure to disclose sufficient grounds for removal.”
Principal Wambugu, on the other hand, is accused of irregularly modifying bond conditions, leading to the release of an individual charged with defiling a six-year-old minor. The accused person has since absconded bail.
Among the 85 complaints lodged with the JSC, 37 were dismissed due to their reliance on the merits or judicial independence of a judge.
30 are under preliminary evaluation by the Commission, 11 await responses from the judges in question, and 3 petitions have been accepted for further hearings.
Article 168(1) of the Constitution lays out the specific grounds for removal of a judge key among them inability to perform the functions of office due to mental or physical incapacity, bankruptcy, breach of the code of conduct, incompetence, and gross misconduct or misbehavior,
Once the tribunal is established, it will conduct hearings, gather evidence, and submit its recommendations to the President who will in turn accept its recommendation and dismiss the judge or reject the recommendation and reinstate the judge.