Photo | FILE Prime Minister Raila Odinga was to be a witness at the request of former Alego-Usonga MP Otieno Mak’Onyango but High Court judge Justice Hatari Waweru disqualified himself amid claims of mistrust by the petitioner..
By NATION CORRESPONDENT
Posted Monday, July 4 2011 at 18:05
Posted Monday, July 4 2011 at 18:05
Prime Minister Raila Odinga will no longer have to appear in court after a judge disqualified himself from a case in which a former MP is seeking compensation for unlawful detention during the Moi’s regime.
Mr Odinga was to be a witness at the request of former Alego-Usonga MP Otieno Mak’Onyango but High Court judge Justice Hatari Waweru disqualified himself amid claims of mistrust by the petitioner.
Mr Mak’Onyango said he sensed intrigues and a deliberate bid to delay the case by constantly shifting it from one judge to another.
The last time the petition came up for hearing, it was before Lady Justice Kalpana Rawal who summoned the PM and four other witnesses. Before this, two other judges had heard the petition.
Was shocked
“Justice Rawal was shocked when the case was transferred to her. All the necessary documents had been filed in court and she wondered why the other judges did not hear the petition,” Mr Mak’Onyango said.
But disqualifying himself, Justice Waweru said he could not hear a petition if a party has no confidence in him.
“The case was allocated to me by the duty judge but to the petitioner, it looks like a ploy to delay it.
“For justice to be delivered, the court must enjoy the full trust and confidence of all parties,” he said.
The petition was to be heard on July 4-7 but Justice Waweru directed that the file be taken back to the duty judge for allocation to another judge.
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