Nairobi — The tribunal investigating the conduct of suspended judge, Mr Vitalis Juma, concluded its hearings on Tuesday.

The judge described the investigation as sad and painful for him. Juma said the allegations against him were fictitious and crafted to humiliate him and push him into early retirement or premature resignation.

Through his lawyer, Mr Stephen Mwenesi, Juma asked the tribunal to recommend to President Kibaki to lift his suspension because no sufficient evidence had been adduced against him.

"I urge you to recommend that he ought not be removed as a High Court judge and that his suspension be lifted immediately," said Mwenesi.

He blamed former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, Mr Kiraitu Murungi, for his suspension allegedly because the minister lost election petition cases before him in Meru in 1997.

"It was Murungi who came up with the 'radical surgery' of the judiciary," said Juma. Juma served as a judge in Nyeri until October 2003 when he was suspended.

He is alleged to have received a bribe when he presided over a Sh200 million property dispute in 2002 involving the estate of Mr Wathuku Ngure who had died in 1996. The alleged bribe was to make him rule in favour of Mr Githinji Ngure, the deceased's brother.