Vetting board fires Aroni and Apondi

Lawyers on Tuesday questioned the decision of the vetting board to reinstate two senior judges it had found unfit for office six months ago.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairman Eric Mutua said the board had set a dangerous precedent by clearing Mr Justice Mohamed Ibrahim (Supreme Court) and Lady Justice Roselyn Nambuye (Court of Appeal).

Mr Mutua said judge Ibrahim had delayed judgments for up to eight years, and had the highest number of pending rulings in the upper courts. Judge Nambuye was also dismissed for delayed rulings.

“They have let down Kenyans. Nothing can change for delaying judgment for eight years. What did they do about Ibrahim’s admission (of delayed rulings)? What will the board tell people it sent home for delay of cases? The decision shows either the board is not independent or has been compromised,” Mr Mutua said.

He claimed the board could have compromised its independence due to threats by MPs to disband it, adding that “history will judge them harshly as Kenyans’ main complaint that led to the new Constitution was delay of cases.”

Mr Mutua claimed the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board led by Mr Sharad Rao had been under pressure to clear judge Ibrahim and judge Nambuye. However, he did not name the forces pushing for the reinstatement of the two judges.

Last year, the LSK boss accused Chief Justice Willy Mutunga of interfering with the work of the vetting board when judge Ibrahim appealed its decision to sack him.

LSK accused Dr Mutunga of writing to the board that judge Ibrahim had cleared the pending cases that had led to his dismissal.

“We suspect that the reason why these 264 rulings were written within three months, some of which were pending for eight years, is to influence the decision of the board on the review of the suitability determination,” he said.

Dr Mutunga, however, denied the allegations of favouritism.

In the July 20 ruling sending him home, the board said judge Ibrahim had delayed cases before him, some running since 2004. It ruled that the judge could not remember the number of judgments still pending before him, while serving in the High Court.

When he appeared before the board in April, judge Ibrahim had 162 uncompleted matters in Mombasa, 79 in Eldoret and 29 in Nairobi. On May 2, he requested Dr Mutunga to release him from Supreme Court for three months to clear up the matters.

“The delays were unacceptable, carried like a hump on a camel’s back from one posting to the next. Hundreds of litigants from every walk of life felt robbed of their right to have their cases finally determined,” read part of the decision.

Welcomed the ruling

The board said the two judges’ inordinate delay in delivering judgments had contributed to the erosion of public confidence in the Judiciary and had in the process denied the litigants justice.

Judges Ibrahim and Nambuye later appealed the decision, and on Tuesday the board said they had cleared the backlog of cases and were fit to serve.

In Eldoret, where Judge Ibrahim and Judge Nambuye once served, lawyers welcomed the ruling. Mr Paul Gicheru said the judges were hardworking and served all without discrimination.

“Justice has been done.  Ibrahim is one of the sharpest judges we have in the country,” Mr Gicheru said.

It is the second time Judge Nambuye has survived the axe. In 2003, the Ringera Commission found her unfit for office but she successfully appealed against the decision.

Meanwhile, two more judges were on Tuesday found unsuitable for office and another one cleared to continue serving on the bench.

Mr Justice Muga Apondi and Lady Justice Abida Ali Aroni were sent packing over alleged malpractice, while Lady Justice Mary Kasango was found fit to serve. This brings the number of sacked judges to 13 judges, and those cleared to 40.

The board took issue with judge Apondi for buying land in the judiciary compound in Nyeri where he served in 1996 at Sh32,400 and disposing it at Sh450,000 in the same year.

“What was particularly disturbing was that the judge showed no understanding of how large sections of the public would see and interpret his conduct in relation to these transactions,” Mr Rao told journalists at Anniversary Towers in Nairobi.

The board said judge Apondi gave long rumbling answers to simple questions of judicial morality and that his mindset showed him to be out of sync with the values and style of work required of a judge.

“For all his admirable qualities, public confidence in the Judiciary would not be restored if the manifest defects in his attitudes and style of work were perpetuated,” Mr Rao said.

Judge Aroni was sent packing for misappropriating a client’s money while she was in private practice as an advocate.

It was alleged that the judge received Sh372,121 on behalf of a client but did not invest it in Treasury Bills as advised. Another complainant claimed that the judge, while in private practice, had not released Sh582,112, debitted to her account in a conveyance transaction.

Judge Kasango was found to be of good temperament and demonstrated confidence and competence.

The board is yet to complete application for review by Lady Justice Khaminwa, whom it declared unsuitable to serve on medical grounds. Mr Rao said the board will start vetting 109 magistrates before the March 28 deadline. “This will be challenging because we have to rely on only two of the foreign judges.”