Saturday, May 1, 2021 – Chief Justice nominee, Martha Koome, has threatened to sue embattled Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi for defamation.
In a letter written by PM Kamaara and Associates, addressed to Havi, Koome wants Havi to apologise for a memorandum he wrote to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on 29 March 2021, in which he claimed the Lady Justice was not suitable to hold office as Chief Justice.
In the first case, Havi cited a decision on 29th May 2020, in which Martha Koome, sitting with Justice EM Githinji and Retired Chief Justice David Maraga, issued an order of stay of execution of a decree of the High Court, in what Havi termed as interference from the Executive, after she reportedly received a letter dated 28 May 2020, from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture at the time.
According to Havi, this amounted to receiving directions from the Executive instead of being independent.
In another matter, he accused Koome of holding a court seating on the night of 25 October 2017, alongside two other judges, and reversing a decision that had been made during the day by the High Court in the matter of Republic Vs IEBC Exparte Khalef Khalif.
However, Koome, through her lawyers, demanded that Havi retract both his memorandum within 7 days and also issue a public apology, failure to which legal action will be taken against him, in which he will bear the cost and damages.
Havi has however stated that the Lady Justice may just turn out to be the shortest-serving Chief Justice of Kenya, in what he claims is flexing of muscles even before she is approved as Chief Justice by the Parliament.
E! News Blog
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