Tunoi tribunal reprimands judiciary official for skipping hearing

What you need to know:

  • Mr Sharad Rao, the chairman of the tribunal investigating Justice Philip Tunoi reprimanded Mr Kennedy Bidali for failing to present himself for cross examination despite having received a summon note on time.
  • This was after it emerged that Mr Bidali, the officer in charge of the office of the Ombudsman in the Judiciary, had received a summon to appear before the tribunal from lead counsel Paul Nyamodi but excused himself saying he was attending a judiciary meeting in Mombasa.

A tribunal investigating the conduct of a Supreme Court Judge on Tuesday castigated judiciary Ombudsman for failing to appear before it saying the delay on the proceedings was causing “anxiety”.

Mr Sharad Rao, the chairman of the tribunal investigating Justice Philip Tunoi reprimanded Mr Kennedy Bidali for failing to present himself for cross examination despite having received a summon note on time.

This was after it emerged that Mr Bidali, the officer in charge of the office of the Ombudsman in the Judiciary, had received a summon to appear before the tribunal from lead counsel Paul Nyamodi but excused himself saying he was attending a judiciary meeting in Mombasa.

“We as a tribunal need to express our displeasure at this because it (tribunal hearing) is an important matter, we are dealing with allegations against a senior judge of the Supreme Court who is anxious to proceed and finish with these proceedings as soon as possible,” said Mr Rao.

He also said the issue was of huge public interest and that Kenyans too were anxious to see the conclusion of the matter.

Mr Nyamodi told the tribunal that he had summoned Mr Bidali on May 18 this year to appear for cross examination on Tuesday but that he received a letter from the judiciary indicating that Mr Bidali would be unavailable as he was engaged in another matter.

“Yesterday (Monday) afternoon, I received a letter dated May 23, 2106 from the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary explaining that Mr Bidali would be unavailable to testify today because he is engaged in a heads of stations forum in Mombasa in his capacity as the head of the anti-corruption court,” said Mr Nyamodi.

The statement did not go down well with the tribunal with Mr Rao reprimanding Mr Bidali for choosing to attend to another matter instead of first appearing before the tribunal.

He said Mr Bidali would have first testified before the tribunal and later attend the meeting in Mombasa saying the delay in the hearings was causing the judge anxiety.

Mr Rao also appeared unimpressed that the Ombudsman chose to excuse himself through the Chief Registrar instead of doing it in person.

He also expressed concern that the outcome of the Court of Appeal ruling in which Justice Tunoi has sued over his retirement age would affect the tribunal and asked the Tunoi legal team to furnish the tribunal with details immediately the ruling is made on Friday so as to know the next course of action.

“Obviously that judgment would have some consequences as far as these proceedings are concerned,” he said.

Earlier, the tribunal had summoned a Nation Deputy Managing Editor, a sub editor and a reporter over a previous story carried on the newspaper which the Tunoi team had complained had misrepresented facts.

Despite carrying an apology last week, the Tunoi legal team said it was unsatisfied and the tribunal ruled that another apology be drafted and that the Nation team together with its lawyer appear on Wednesday to explain the facts of the previous disputed story.