The State has filed an application seeking to have one of the judges hearing a case against Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, recuse himself from the case after he was shortlisted for the position of Chief Justice and Supreme Court judge.
Appearing on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, State counsel Alexander Muteti argued that having been shortlisted for the two posts, Justice Said Chitembwe should ditch the case as he will appear before JSC commissioners; some of whom are directly involved in the case.
Muteti’s call for Justice Chitembwe’s recusal was opposed by Senior Counsel James Orengo and LSK President Nelson Havi who represent DCJ Mwilu.
Read More
According to Orengo, the case is being handled by a three judge-bench, therefore one judge will not interfere with the outcome of the case.
On his part, Havi argued that a formal application should be filed on the matter, so that the reason for the Judge’s recusal is clear, should he opt to take that route.
In the case, Mwilu is accused of being involved in fraud, bribery, abuse of office and other related charges.
She, however, maintains that she is innocent of all the claims.
The DCJ does not want the matter forwarded to the JSC arguing that some of the commissioners have a personal bias against her. She listed the two commissioners as; Attorney General Kihara Kariuki and Macharia Njeru.
