Petition filed against nomination of Maraga for position of Chief Justice
Justice David Maraga before the Judicial Service Commission for an interview for the position of Chief Justice at the Supreme Court building in Nairobi on August 31, 2016. On September 22, 2016, the group nominated him for the job. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Office of Clerk of National Assembly received Fredrick Onyancha's petition on Tuesday.
- It will be reviewed so it can be seen whether it is admissible.
- If it is, it will be submitted to Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.
- Group will then see whether it is necessary to have petitioner appear in person.
A new petition has been filed against the nomination of Justice David Kenani Maraga to the position of Chief Justice ahead of his vetting by Parliament on Wednesday morning.
The petition by Mr Fredrick Onyancha was received at the office of the Clerk of the National Assembly on Tuesday. Mr Onyancha wants the nomination of Justice Maraga rejected on the basis that he was responsible for a gross backlog of cases in Eldoret.
The petition will be reviewed to see whether it is admissible and if it is, submitted to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, which will then see whether it is necessary to have the petitioner appear in person.
Some residents of Ainamoi had earlier submitted a petition against Justice Maraga even before his name was submitted to Parliament for vetting. But, the petition was not in the required format. The law requires a memorandum regarding a nominee be submitted in the form of a sworn affidavit.
The committee could still decide to have Justice Maraga respond to the allegations verbally in the course of his meeting with them.
For his public vetting at Continental House in Nairobi on Wednesday, Justice Maraga was asked to bring along his original identity card, academic and professional certificates, testimonials and letters or certificates of clearance from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Kenya Revenue Authority, Higher Education Loans Board, Directorate of Criminal Investigations and any credit reference bureau.
The scheduling of the vetting means that the committee will only have a few hours to put together their report on his suitability. House Speaker Justin Muturi said the approval needed to be dealt with urgently.
