The Supreme Court Judges
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi on Friday evening filed a petition at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) seeking the removal of four Supreme Court judges over bribery allegations in the Wajir gubernatorial petition.
The judges named in the petition are Mohamed K. Ibrahim, Jackton B. Ojwang, Smokin C. Wanjala and Njoki S. Ndung’u as reported by Nation.
Ahmednassir, who represented former Wajir governor Ahmed Abdullahi in the petition, accused the judges of pocketing more than Ksh390 million to influence the outcome of the appeal.
The Supreme Court, on February 15, overturned the decision of the High Court and the Court of Appeal to nullify the election of Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mahamud.
The county head had moved to Supreme Court seeking a ruling regarding his election over allegations that he did not possess the prerequisite academic qualifications.
The four judges upheld his election while Chief Justice David Maraga and Justice Isaac Lenaola returned separate dissenting judgments.
Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu did not participate in the election petition.
As pointed out by Citizen Digital, the filing of the petition is just the first step in the process of probably removing the judges.
JSC will have to decide whether the allegations have any substance before giving the judges the chance to respond.
If deemed serious enough, a recommendation will be made to the President to form a tribunal that will test the evidence presented before coming up with a decision on whether or not a judge in question should be removed.
The new allegations will once again put the nation’s apex court in the spotlight as the Supreme Court battles to win public confidence amidst the allegations that have rocked it since its establishment.