The Supreme Court has dismissed an application to have three judges recuse themselves from the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) case.
Isaac Aluochier had petitioned Judicial Service Commission (JSC) seeking recusal of Njoki Ndung’u, Smokin Wanjala and Mohamed Ibrahim from hearing the BBI Appeal.
In a ruling delivered on behalf of the judges, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu termed the petition by Aluochier bias citing claims as far fetched and speculative.
“The applicant having instituted the petition before JSC it should be allowed to take its course since the commission is an independent body. The notice of motion lacks in merit and is disallowed,” said Mwilu.
The apex court also consolidated the three appeals filed by President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Attorney General into one case.
The court directed that the hearing of the case take place for three consecutive days from January 18 to January 20, 2022.
The court has also allowed all applications for amici saying the submissions filed by the different amicus curie will help the court in reaching a determination.
A team of eight local and foreign constitutional law experts set to be part of the BBI appeal at Supreme Court as Amicus Curiae
According to Aluochier’s petition, BBI appeal should be resolved by an impartial bench of judges and the three judges appear not to be impartial in the matter before the court.
He claims that he lodged a petition at the JSC in 2016 for the removal of six judges of the Supreme Court led by former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and Justices Phillip Tunoi, Jacktone Ojwang, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung’u for breach of code of conduct and gross misbehaviour.
Further, he urged JSC to fast-track his petition against the judges saying he is even willing to use Alternative Dispute Resolution to settle the matter with the judges that have been pending since 2016.
JSC told the court that it has not received the petition by Aluochier and the three judges also said they are not aware of the said petition.