Chief Justice Martha Koome has issued a statement assuring judicial officers of their protection under the constitution following the controversial arrest of Justice Said Chitembwe and Justice Aggrey Muchelule.
The statement posted on her official social media handle revealed that the Chief Justice had been briefed by Justices Muchelule and Chitembwe.
"The two judges have notified me that they recorded statements at the DCI Headquarters following a search of their chambers at Milimani Law Courts," the statement said in part.
The statement released by Chief Justice Martha Koome
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Justice Koome went on to state that the authorities had not made any formal report to her as the Chair of the Judiciary Service Commission or as the Head of the Judiciary.
"I will await findings of the investigations and at the opportune moment make a full statement," Justice Koome wrote noting that the matter was now the subject of a court process.
Justice Said Chitembwe on the left and Justice Aggrey Muchelule/ Photo Courtesy
The Thursday morning arrest of the two judges has sparked a furore from the legal community which condemned the move en masse.
According to criminal lawyer Cliff Ombeta, the DCI did not follow the legal protocol in the arrest of the judges.
"The moment you want to arrest a judge, you must inform the Judicial Service Commission, you have to inform their bosses to preserve the dignity of that office," Ombeta said as he labelled the arrests as malicious.
The two judges were arrested on Thursday after the DCI secured a search warrant for the chambers.
They were released in the afternoon after being questioned for two hours.
