Ainamoi leaders disappointed with Maraga’s appointment
Justice David Maraga during his swearing in as the new Chief Justice at State House, Nairobi on October 19, 2016. PHOTO | PSCU |
What you need to know:
- In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Mr Emmanuel Kiplangat Kirior, an Ainamoi parliamentary seat aspirant who had filed a petition in the National Assembly asking Members of Parliament to reject Justice Maraga’s nomination, said he was disappointed with the appointment of Justice Maraga as the new CJ.
- Last week, Mr Kirior filed a petition in the National Assembly asking MPs to reject Justice Maraga’s nomination to the CJ post, claiming that he had issued an “unfair ruling” in 2009 when he sentenced the person convicted of murdering the late Too to only ten years in prison.
A section of leaders from Ainamoi Constituency in Kericho County have expressed their disappointment following the swearing in of Justice David Maraga as the new Chief Justice.
In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Mr Emmanuel Kiplangat Kirior, an Ainamoi parliamentary seat aspirant who had filed a petition in the National Assembly asking Members of Parliament to reject Justice Maraga’s nomination, said he was disappointed with the appointment of Justice Maraga as the new CJ.
He told the Nation.co.ke that he felt that Justice Maraga’s vetting and approval by the National Assembly appeared to have been “hurried” by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee led by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga.
A second petition was also filed in Parliament by Ainamoi resident Tom Biegon, who is also a close confidante of current Ainamoi MP Benjamin Langat.
The petitions were based on a ruling delivered by Justice Maraga in a case on the killing of David Kimutai Too, then Ainamoi MP.
Last week, Mr Kirior filed a petition in the National Assembly asking MPs to reject Justice Maraga’s nomination to the CJ post, claiming that he had issued an “unfair ruling” in 2009 when he sentenced the person convicted of murdering the late Too to only ten years in prison.
“The humble petitioners pray that the National Assembly does not approve his nomination to become Chief Justice and compels Justice Maraga to make an apology to the family of the deceased, the people of Ainamoi Constituency and the people of Kenya at large for his indiscretion and failure to uphold the Constitution,” read part of Mr Kirior’s petition.
But during his vetting, the new Chief Justice defended himself, saying he had acted within the law, which allows him to reduce charges of murder to manslaughter, which he did in the case of Andrew Moeche, the police officer who shot dead Mr Too in January 2008.
However, Mr Kirior insisted that the people of Ainamoi remained convinced that justice eluded them when Mr Moeche was jailed for only 10 years.
He urged the new Chief Justice to do whatever is within his powers to ensure that the hearing of an appeal against the ruling, which was filed seven years is fast-tracked so that the family of the late MP and the people of Ainamoi feel that justice is done at the end.
