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Kenya: Two Judges Sacked Over Graft
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The Nation (Nairobi)
3 May 2008
Posted to the web 2 May 2008
Sam Kiplagat
Nairobi
Petty and grand corruption in the Judiciary was laid bare on Friday as two suspended High Court judges were sacked for unethical behaviour.
President Kibaki receives a report from Lady Justice Jessie Lesiit, chair of the of tribunal that investigated the conduct of Justice Tom Mbaluto at his Harambee House office yesterday. With them is Attorney-General Amos Wako. Photo/PPS
Documents supporting the judges' conviction revealed that corrupt judicial officials are bribed with as little as Sh25,000 to tamper with justice.
The details are contained in the judgement of two tribunals whose findings were presented to President Kibaki on Friday.
The tribunals found Mr Justice Vitalis Juma and Mr Justice Thomas Mbaluto guilty of unethical conduct and recommended their sacking from the Judiciary, making the two the first judges in Kenya's history to be convicted and sacked.
But no evidence was found against Mr Justice Msagha Mbogholi who has now been reinstated.
In Mr Justice Mbogholi's case, the tribunal headed by retired Chief Justice A. M. Cockar said in its ruling: "The upshot of our findings is that not a single of the 10 allegations listed on the subject has been proved.
Recommendation
"The unanimous recommendation of the tribunal is that the subject judge is honourably exonerated in respect of each of the said allegations. We further recommend that his suspension be lifted forthwith and that he be directed to resume his duties as the judge of the High Court," Mr Justice Cockar said.
But in Mr Justice Juma's case, the judges' verdict was: "The complaints made in the proved allegations consist of corruption, unethical practices and absence of integrity... In our view, the judge is not fit to be a judge of the High Court of Kenya.
Mr Justice Juma was convicted of receiving a total of Sh225,000 in form of bribes to rule in favour of different people and also to speed up their cases. In one of the cases, a succession matter, it was proved that the judge received Sh25,000 from a woman only identified as Wambui.
He received the bribe so that he could speed up her case. According to Wambui, the judge had asked for Sh50,000 but she gave out half the amount. But since it was not the agreed amount, he returned the money to Wambui.
Unacceptable
Mr Justice Cockar's tribunals ruled that this was an unacceptable behaviour.
Mr Juma also received Sh200,000 as donation from a Mr Gitundu towards his mother's (Juma's) funeral arrangements. Although he denied the claims, former Central provincial commissioner and now Makueni MP Peter Kiilu allegedly delivered the money on behalf of Mr Gitundu.
Twelve accusations were brought against Mr Justice Juma and nine of them were proved, according to the tribunal. Other than receiving the bribes, the tribunal found the judge guilty of gross misbehaviour after he advised a client to change his advocate.
There was also an allegation against him of improper conduct after showing interest in a succession case when he was the presiding judge in Nyeri. The tribunal ruled that it had been proved that the judge was corrupt, unethical and lacked integrity while performing his duties.
"In our view, the subject judge is not fit to be a judge of the High Court of Kenya. Our unanimous recommendation to Your Excellency is that the subject ought to be removed immediately from his office of Judge of the High Court of Kenya under section 62(5)(b) of the Constitution," the tribunal ruled.
Mr Justice Juma was also accused of privately communicating and hosting some litigants during the hearing of their cases. This behaviour, the tribunal said, was unacceptable. The panel ruled that the judge failed to uphold his judicial oath of office. He was further accused of hosting selective parties in hotels.
Cup of tea
The case of Ms Wambui was cited because it was proven that the two had a cup of tea at the Outspan Hotel in Nyeri.
The judge had, however, termed the removal of his colleagues from the Judiciary as ironic. He said during his testimony that it was ironical that all the judges who opted for retirement were handsomely paid and received a letter of commendation from the President.
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The judge said that in most of the letters he read from colleagues, the President thanked the judges for their exemplary performance during their tenure at the Judiciary and for a job well done.
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