FORMER Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza decided to resign last Saturday after meeting Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.
She met Uhuru at Karen’s Shade Hotel at lunchtime shortly before he left with his entourage left for the homecoming of Kajiado North MP Moses Sakuda.
Baraza went to the meeting with Labour PS Beatrice Kituyi and Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa who organised it.
The meeting discussed Baraza's chances of getting 'a fair trial' in the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga who recently made some tough public statements on integrity.
“There was a unanimous resolve that the DCJ should not continue with the case as the bench could not guarantee justice to her,” said a source who attended the meeting.
Baraza is now likely to join the legal team of Uhuru on the integrity case over whether he and Ruto can stand for the presidency while facing charges of crimes against humanity in the Hague.
“She will be on our side as we take on Mutunga and soon we will unveil her,” said the source close the DPM. Yesterday Eugene confirmed the meeting took place but dismissed reports of a deal as conspiracy theory.
“We met with the DCJ who only shared her frustrations and fears that she might not get justice. The decision to resign was hers purely,” Eugene said.
The minister also refused to disclose if the meeting had been planned with Uhuru or if it was coincidental. “We met her on our way to the rally," was all Eugene would say,
Baraza formally resigned on Thursday saying that she had no chance of a fair hearing for her appeal to the Supreme Court.
She threatened a Village Market security guard with a pistol on New Years Eve. A tribunal chaired by a Tanzanian judge decided that she had embarrassed the judiciary and should be removed from office.
“The Chief Justice in a recent television interview endorsed the tribunal recommendations against me which are the subject of my appeal. This has compound my fears that I will not get a fair trial before a bench in which he will participate,” Baraza said.
Yesterday, Eugene said he shared Baraza's sentiments saying Mutunga should not have commented on a matter pending before the Supreme Court which he chairs.
Another Uhuru ally said that Baraza’s case will be used to challenge Mutunga’s participation in the integrity hearing should it proceed from the constitutional court to the Supreme Court.
“The CJ seems to have a set mind on some cases. This latest development by the DCJ gives us a leeway to challenge Mutunga’s moral authority to adjudicate on the integrity case against the DPM and William Ruto,” said the source.
In July, Mutunga contradicted Eugene by stating that the fate of Uhuru and Ruto's pursuit of the presidency lay squarely with the courts. Eugene had said they were free to run shortly after becoming Justice minister in March.
In early October the CJ advised Kenyans to look at the Baraza and Matemu Mumo rulings when asked if Ruto and Uhuru could stand for president.
"Clearly, the CJ seems to have his own standards of integrity definition and impunity but we will take the war to his doorstep. He is only referring to cases where Baraza and Matemu have lost," another associate of Uhuru added.
Team Uhuru is worried that the US government and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan's belief that the Judiciary is in good hands with Mutunga. They believe that foreign powers want to ensure that they do not run for president.
Eugene yesterday declined to comment on whether Baraza is entitled to payment for the all the five years of her appointment which could give her a Sh53m send-off package as she had only served just over one year in office.
"The issue of her payment squarely lies within the hands of her former employer ( Judicial Service Commission) and appointing authority ( President Kibaki)," Eugene said.
He said that the vacancy of Deputy CJ will be announced immediately. He said suitable candidates will be shortlisted and interviewed with the nominee being vetted by Parliament as soon as possible.
"The process must be fast tracked for Parliament to approve the nominee by end of November or earlier December since the house stands dissolved by January. It's important that we go to the polls with a fully constituted Supreme Court," he added.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment