Tempers flared yesterday when the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) confronted Supreme Court judge Jackton Ojwang with allegations of his perceived professional misconduct and the poor performance of the seven-judge bench under the chairmanship of retired Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.
The long-serving judge was compelled to seek protection from JSC acting chairperson, Prof Margaret Kobia, following sustained interrogation by Court of Appeal judge Mohamed Warsame regarding the disciplinary action taken against him by the Judiciary’s top decision-making body for allegedly going on strike in solidarity with judges who unsuccessfully resisted the mandatory 70-year retirement rule.
Justice Ojwang was visibly angered by insinuations that he unilaterally threw out an urgent application by Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu on February 18, seeking a review of the court’s decision made on August 29, 2014, dismissing his petition challenging the election of Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero.
Waititu had based his application on the Sh200 million bribery allegations made against retired Supreme Court judge Philip Tunoi by former Kass FM radio journalist Geoffrey Kiplagat.
Matters took a dramatic turn when Warsame asked Ojwang to confirm whether the JSC had found him guilty of misconduct and admonished him for participating in a go-slow during the hearing of the controversial 70-year retirement suits filed separately by Justice Tunoi and retired Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal.
Ojwang said he had received a letter from the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Anne Amadi, but was never given an opportunity to defend himself before the JSC.
“There was no strike. I was never on strike and will never go on strike,” he reiterated and said he has always reported to work daily and never missed any court session convened by Dr Mutunga during his four-year tenure. Further, he said he has only travelled to London and New Delhi on official assignments and his work-ethic is well known.
Turning on the Waititu case, Justice Ojwang said the politician’s application for review of the dismissal of his petition-based on unsubstantiated bribery allegations against Justice Tunoi- was “presumptuous, frivolous and illegitimate” and deserved to be thrown out. But he had allowed Waititu to present his grievances before a five-judge bench.
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