Tuju presents evidence of alleged misconduct by Supreme Court judges to EACC
Tuju who did not reveal what the nature of the evidence presented to the anti-graft agency, saying it is related to his open letter to the CJ
Former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju has delivered a dossier to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) days after writing an open letter to the Chief Justice Martha Koome accusing five Supreme Court judges of being biased and irresponsible in handling key cases.
Tuju, who did not reveal the nature of evidence he presented to the anti-graft agency at Integrity Centre, said only said it was in relation to his open letter to the Chief Justice.
He stated that making some of the matters public would scandalise the five judges involved in his petition to the Judiciary Service Commission (JSC).
“Whatever I have shared with the EACC chairman is in my open letter. I have spoken about the communications with the Chief justice among many more. It is fair that I do not share that with the press to scandalise people maliciously,” Tuju said while addressing the press moments after a meeting with EACC Chairman David Oginde.
The former CS added that he decided to take further action by presenting the evidence to the ant-graft commission because the judges went to the high court to block JSC from doing its work.
“All I am saying is JSC wrote to the accused judges and they chose to go to court instead of replying. JSC cannot proceed with the petition because the judges moved to court,” he stated.
Tuju further clarified that in his petition to the JSC, he never requested for the removal of the judges as it accused them of being biased and lacking impartiality.
According to the former CS, the five were to just defend themselves before the commission and present their case.
“I never asked JSC to remove the judges as I also never asked them to recuse from my case with the bank. The evidence was already before them when they decided to recuse themselves and later after the recuse, they still ruled in favour of the bank. The case before them had collapsed because the affidavit before them had been recanted. Hence their clever move to recuse themselves. They moved to court and now JSC cannot do its work,” he lamented.
Tuju revealed to have received lots of emails from Kenyans after his open letter to Justice Koome, which, he added, was part of the evidence presented to the EACC amongst the accusations raised over the Supreme Court judges.
Tuju refuted claims of being political with his petition to JSC, saying he decided to go public with his letter after the petition before JSC stalled to express his frustrations.
“It’s about the right to be heard. That’s why I have never disclosed details of my case at the JSC because it is the appropriate forum for discussing these issues. But they don’t want to go before the JSC,” Tuju previously said.
He however maintained today that he would not share more details of the petition before JSC.
The former Jubilee Secretary General also added that the EACC has not given a timeline of their investigations on the accused judges but has got an assurance that the investigations shall be launched immediately.
In his letter, Tuju called on Koome to protect the Constitution which she swore to defend it.
“I’m simply appealing to the Chief Justice to uphold the rule of law and protect the Constitution of Kenya, which she swore to defend. Some of the actions taken by Supreme Court judges in recent times are extremely serious as they undermine a constitutional body. If a judge’s conduct is in question, the JSC, chaired by the Chief Justice, is the institution mandated to adjudicate on the matter. Judges should subject themselves to this process rather than blocking the JSC from hearing the case,” he said.
Further, in his letter, the former Foreign Affairs minister accused the judges of behaving as if they were infallible as he accused them of discussing matters before the JSC and High Court in public.
The presentation at EACC comes as Tuju also requested the Chief Justice to form a tribunal to investigate Senior counsels Githu Muigai and Fred Ojiambo over alleged professional misconduct in his Ksh 4.5 billion loan dispute with East African Development Bank (EADB).
The two are accused of creating and submitting false affidavits from witnesses to the Supreme Court in the legal battle involving the property auction loan case against Tuju, which led to his defeat in the case last year.
The former CS wants Koome to form a tribunal to investigate the senior counsels’ gross misconduct and have them stripped of the Senior Counsel titles.
“I pray that you dare to carry out your constitutional duty without fear or favor,” Tuju stated.
He insists that the false affidavits were a deliberate effort to deprive him of his property, which he acquired legally over 39 years ago, long before he became a senior public servant.
Tuju claims that his land has become the target of a fraudulent scheme by unscrupulous individuals, including lawyers and auctioneers, who are attempting to seize it.
Six months after Tuju filed a petition at JSC in April last year; in October, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, Justices Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, and William Ouko recused themselves from hearing the former CS appeal concerning a Sh4.5 billion debt owed to the EADB.
Tuju’s petition to JSC is among the several filed to the commission recently by former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi and Senior Counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi among others accusing the Supreme Court Judges of gross misconduct and corruption.
However, the apex court judges moved to the high court which issued orders for JSC to stop proceeding with the hearing of the petition until the cases are heard and determined.
