Lawyer wants Mutunga barred from executing duties

By Judy Ogutu An advocate, who challenged the new Constitution in court, now wants the Chief Justice barred from executing the functions of his office.
In a sworn affidavit, John Harrison Kinyanjui says Willy Mutunga should have taken the oath of office under the many religions he professes to have faith in "as mandated under Article 74 of the Constitution" and Section 15 of the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act.
"I believe that if indeed the ninth interested party (Mutunga) professes Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Hare Krishna, Shamanism, Shintoism, Buddhism, Theosophy, Reincarnation and such other faiths of the world, then he ought to have taken an oath under or as practiced by those faiths. He did not," says Kinyanjui.
Temporary injunctionHe is also seeking a temporary injunction restraining Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza from executing the duties of her office.

Harrisson Kinyanjui	Dr Will Mutunga

Kinyanjui claims Dr Mutunga, upon being questioned by the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee, said he professes all faiths, and yet he never took the oath as envisaged under all these religions. "He is on record as having taken only one unmarked red book and purportedly read the expressed oath," Kinyajui alleges.
In the documents filed at the High Court in Nairobi, he argues: "He cannot uphold the dignity and the respect of the Judiciary and the judicial system while engaged in Necromancy and wearing of the stud that he confessed connects him to unspecified ancestors whose influence and impact on him on the discharge of the functions of the office of the CJ were never canvassed or indeed established."
Kinyanjui alleges the practice of necromancy is likely to affect the discharge of functions of the office of the CJ in a manner that reduces respect for the Judiciary.
According to him, necromancy involves contacting dead persons’ spirits and summoning of such spirits amounts to and is part of magical practices.
"The practice of magic is prohibited under the Penal Code and its practice would therefore amount to criminal offence. The practitioners of necromancy have as a common thread the summoning of the spirits of the dead in practice of magic. I verily believe that the ninth interested party (Mutunga) having expressed his stud as the means of contact with the ancestral spirits would effectively be practicing magic," he says on oath.
In the sworn statement, he claims he on June 27 called JSC Secretary, Lychia Achode, to inquire whether Mutunga specifically expressed his faith in accordance with the requirements of Section 15 of Cap 15 and she stated that she could not recall.
He has sued the Attorney General and the Judicial Service Commission. He has also named Mutunga, Justice Riaga Omollo, Justice Samuel Bosire, Justice Alnashir Visram, Justice Joseph Nyamu, Justice Kalpana Rawal and Justice Kariuki Kihara as interested parties to the suit.
Also named as interested parties are Justice Lee Muthoga, Justice Mary Ang’awa, Justice Roselyn Nambuye, Justice Hannah Okwengu, Justice Mary Kasango, Justice Martha Koome, Ms Gladys Boss Sholei, Ms Nancy Baraza, Clerk of the National Assembly and Ogla Karani.
Kinyanjui had in May filed a case challenging Mutunga and Baraza’s appointment claiming they were unconstitutional.
Amend petitionOn Wednesday, he filed an urgent application seeking to amend the May petition. The advocate argues that since Justice Jeanne Gacheche excused herself from hearing the case on June 22, and the matters arising in the aftermath of the alleged unconstitutional appointments of Mutunga and Baraza, it has become necessary to amend the petition.
He claims the two were aware of the proceedings pending in court prior to taking oath of office and should have declined or suspended their acceptance of their appointments until proceedings were fully determined.