Judiciary gives President Uhuru green light to sack corrupt high court judge

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The Supreme Court has ruled that there was sufficient evidence that High Court judge Joseph Mutava colluded Goldenberg scandal architect Kamlesh Pattni’s lawyer to have a file retrieved and taken to him in Kericho while aware that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was investigating his conduct into the matter.

Chief Justice David Maraga had chaired the tribunal that recommended Mutava’s sacking which included Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, judges Jackton Ojwang, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u and Isaac Lenaola.

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“We have established the factual position of the case based on his own admission that he inquired about the case which shows that he had manifest interest in the outcome which amounts to gross misconduct and justifies his removal from the judiciary,” ruled the judges.

The court’s decision means that President Uhuru Kenyatta can now sack the judge

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Appointed to the High Court judge in August 2011 the Supreme Court judges ruled that Mutava started courting controversy barely six months after being appointed judge. They noted that several complaints had been filed against him at the JSC between March 2012 and March 2013.

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Mutava’s troubles started in March 2013 when he terminated all criminal cases against Pattni, and stopped police from re-arresting or charging the businessman with any offence relating to the Goldenberg scandal.


The Supreme Court judges ruled that the tribunal was right in its finding that Justice Mutava irregularly retrieved Pattni’s file from the High Court in Nairobi, took it to Kericho and wrote a judgment while his involvement in the matter was being investigated.

Supreme Court upholds the sacking of Justice Joseph Mutava over gross misconduct in handling the Goldenberg scandal case.Declares him unfit to serve. pic.twitter.com/Tur5uc3Iwd— Hakuna Matata (@Matoke_) March 12, 2019


“Any judge must ensure that his conduct is beyond reproach and when facing investigations, he should have restrained himself from handling the case. We find that there was collusion between the judge and Pattni’s lawyer to willfully have the file placed before him,” ruled the judges.

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