Nairobi – The sacked Vice President, Rigathi Gachagua he has lost his appeal, challenging the legitimacy of the bench, which heard his impeachment case.
On Tuesday, October 22, Gachagua challenged the authority of Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu to form a bench to hear the constitutional issue.
Mwilu appointed a three-judge bench including Justices Eric Ogolla, Anthony Mrima, and Freda Mugambi to hear the government's request to set aside the orders preventing the appointment of Kithur Kindiki.
However, in its decision, the three-judge bench said that the deputy chief justice has the power to perform the administrative duties of the Chief Justice.
A three-judge bench ruled that the function of the Chief Justice (CJ) to appoint a bench under Article 165(4) is constitutionally administrative and can be exercised by the Deputy Chief Justice (DCJ). The case died there.
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“So it is our conclusion that the constitutional results of the CJ appointing benches, if it is an administrative function, can be done by the DCJ when the CJ, for good reason, is unable to work,” Judge Mrima said.
While dismissing the petition of the sacked vice president, the bench said that CJ Martha Koome had not raised any red flags about the legality of Mwilu's action.
“It is possible that the DCJ can appoint judges under Article 165 Sub-section 4 of the constitution whenever he performs any constitutional duties on behalf of the Chief Justice. In this case we do not see anything wrong with the DCJ giving judges to sit on this bench more when the CJ has not raised the flag any red,” the bench noted.
More to follow…
Source: TUKO.co.ke
