Mombasa magistrate with questionable deposits found unfit to hold office

A magistrate based in Mombasa has been found unfit to continue holding office.

The Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board said Principal Magistrate Samuel Kimuya Gacheru failed to account for numerous deposits made to his bank account.

Mr Gacheru was also found to be of average writing and communication skills while his grasp of the law was also said to be mediocre.

Board deputy chairperson Roselyn Odede said the magistrate had questionable deposits into his accounts and recommended that he stops serving as a judicial officer.

She said Mr Gacheru still had another pending complaint lodged against him but it could not be considered since it was lodged after the timeline given to people to do so.

The board found Mr Gacheru guilty of failing to substantiate the source of numerous cash deposits in his account made by different persons more than once a week.

“The magistrate was asked to explain the numerous cash deposits in his account done by different people and in different towns.

“He explained that most of those deposits were proceeds from sale of milk and the potato farming that he does with his mother.

“The cash is deposited more than once a week, and it is not believable that he got the money from his mother over the weekend, and deposited it piecemeal over the week,” said Ms Odede.

Ms Odede was speaking at Mountain View hotel in Embu when she read the board’s statement giving an update on the 14th announcement of determinations on suitability of magistrates.

Mr Gacheru is the only Magistrate, out of 19, who was found unsuitable to hold office in the recent vetting process held by the board in Mombasa.

FOUND FIT TO SERVE

The board however cleared Ms Carolyne Akinyi, Mr Joseph Maloba, Ms Elizabeth Katiwa, Ms Rose Makungum Hellen Onkwani, Mr Peter Naphtaley Maina and Mr Kennedy Lenkamai to continue serving as magistrates.

Others are Mr Nathan Shiundu, Ms Elena Gathoni, Ms Letizia Muthoni, Ms Martha Anyona, Mr Paul Kipkosgei, Mr Johnstone Munguti, Mr Bernard Maina, Mr Hezron Nyaberi, Ms Mildred Ada-Obura, Ms Teresa Achieng’ and Mr Willy Kipkoech.

Ms Odede however noted that other magistrates too had flaws most of which were committed after the new Constitution was promulgated adding that their mandate was to vet flaws committed before July 2010.

FLAWS IN JUDGEMENTS

The board found out that there were flaws in the magistrates’ judgment writing skills such as grammatical errors which at times affect the whole context and tone of judgment.

“The finding of suitability does not mean they are perfect, it recognises the shortcomings and underscores areas for improvement.

“There also sometimes appears to be flippant or casual attitude in the manner the judgments are written as a whole.

“Not much attention is paid to detail and in some instances the facts and legal reasoning are too sketchy to stand test of a judgment well-reasoned and accepted as such,” she said.

Ms Odede said most of the magistrates attributed the flaws to lack of time and heavy workload.

So far, 273 judicial officers representing 15 per cent of those in service have been vetted.

The board commenced vetting on February 23, 2012 and has currently vetted nine Court of Appeal judges of whom four were found unsuitable and 44 High Court judges out of whom eight were found unsuitable.

A total of 220 magistrates have also been vetted with 15 being found unsuitable.

Ms Odede said despite the fact that the number of judicial officers found unsuitable may appear low, the process had been able to restore confidence in the Judiciary.