The high court has today extended orders barring the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) from hearing cases filed against Chief Justice Martha Koome and four other Supreme Court judges.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi extended orders for CJ Koome and Judges Isaac Lenaola, Smokin Wanjala, William Ouko, and Njoki Ndung’u.
Justice Mugambi ruled that the court will hear the application seeking to have a case heard by a bench before the main applications.
Lawyers Nelson Havi and Ahmednasir Abdullahi strongly opposed that further raising concerns why the application for empanelment must be heard first, given that the Chief Justice is a party to the proceedings.
Things got heated until Lawyer Ochieng Oduol intervened, urging his colleagues to conduct themselves with decorum and respect for the court.
The judge said he can’t ignore the applications that are before court that’s why he was dealing with that application.
However, Havi said they would appeal that because the Chief Justice cannot appoint judges to hear the matter as she is a party in the matter.
Havi has already filed a preliminary objection, asserting that the High Court lacks jurisdiction to hear cases involving judges and that the JSC should be allowed to proceed with the cases before it.
Additionally, other applications have been filed, including one seeking joinder and another requesting Justice Lenaola’s examination.
Lawyer Ahmednassir also pleaded with the court to have the matter heard expeditiously due to public interest.
The matter will be mentioned on March 28.
