Baraza ruling out on Monday

The fate of suspended Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza will be revealed on Monday in a much-anticipated ruling by a tribunal investigating her conduct.

The tribunal, appointed by President Kibaki, will rule on her suitability to remain in office at 11am.

Ms Baraza is accused of assaulting a security guard, Ms Rebecca Kerubo, and waving a gun at a busy shopping centre in Nairobi on New Year’s eve.

The tribunal was set up following a petition by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) after Ms Kerubo lodged a complaint with the police alleging that Ms Baraza had threatened to shoot her when she sought to conduct a body search before allowing her into the Village Market where the Deputy CJ had gone shopping.

Ms Baraza later apologised for the “unfortunate” incident saying she had no intention of “arrogance or ill will”.

In a statement, she pointed to fears over her personal security and said that the confrontation with Ms Kerubo should be viewed in that light.

“In the last few months a number of security incidents have occurred in and outside my office. As such, threats of violence have been directed at me and I have had to request increased security measures for my office as well as my own personal security,” she said.

Unfortunate incident

“The unfortunate incident at the Village Market should be viewed in light of the genuine security apprehension on my part. I certainly had no intention of high-handedness, arrogance or ill will,” the deputy CJ added.

However, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga summoned an emergency session of the JSC to discuss the incident.

In its meeting, the JSC recommended her suspension and called on President Kibaki to form a tribunal to investigate her conduct.

Former Tanzanian Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani chairs the tribunal which comprises Justice (rtd) Philip Ransley, Surinder Kapila, Prof Judith Behemuka, Beauttah Siganga, Grace Madoka and Prof Mugambi Kanyua.
The tribunal sat from July 2 to July 25.

Apart from being the Deputy CJ, Ms Baraza is also member of the Supreme Court.

On Sunday, Law Society of the Kenya chairman Eric Mutua said Ms Baraza should resign if the tribunal finds her unsuitable to remain in office.

Mr Mutua added that what would follow would then be a “formality”.

“If Baraza is out, then that position must be replaced with a female to conform to the gender rule,” he said.

Section 163 of the Constitution provides that the Supreme Court is “properly constituted for the proceedings if it is composed of five judges”.

The court now has five judges after Mr Justice Mohamed Ibrahim was removed by the vetting board.

According to Mr Mutua, there is no cause for alarm and the court can still conduct business.

“However, in view of the other administrative duties of the CJ, who is the president of the court, there may be challenges when he is unavailable to sit,” Mr Mutua added.

If the court’s verdict on Monday is against her, Ms Baraza will have 10 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.