Wednesday, October 23, 2024 - Chief Justice Martha Koome has broken her silence on the court cases challenging the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua.
Speaking during her rare visit
to the Makadara Law Courts yesterday, Koome brushed off the matter, saying
Gachagua’s case was out of her jurisdiction.
"That is a case that is
with the High Court. It has not gotten to me yet," Koome stated in
response to one member of the public who challenged her to speak on
Gachagua's court proceedings.
Koome's public appearance comes
after it emerged on Tuesday that she had flown out of the country at some point
in the last week prompting Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu to constitute a
three-judge bench to hear the case challenging Gachagua's ouster.
Earlier in the day, Gachagua's
legal team had spent a good amount of time questioning whether Mwilu had the
powers to appoint the bench arguing that only CJ Koome had the authority to do
that.
"It is unclear as to
circumstances that led to the placement of the file to this bench on a Saturday
without the express directions of the Chief Justice on the composition of a
bench," Senior counsel Paul Muite observed.
The DP also read malice into how
a petition file came from Kerugoya at 4 pm only for the DCJ to instantly
appoint the three judges to hear an application by the State seeking to set
aside orders blocking Kithure Kindiki's appointment.
On the same day, President
William Ruto also challenged the High Court's powers to hear petitions
challenging the impeachment.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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