Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi has claimed that a section of Jubilee MPs from Rift Valley are plotting to reject the nomination of Justice David Maraga as the next Chief Justice.
Wandayi alleged that the rift valley MPs have “strong” instructions to have Maraga rejected when the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly starts vetting his suitability on Wednesday.
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"They are now putting the spanners in the works to ensure that the country does not have a new CJ by the end of the week. You will see drama during the vetting process," Wandayi told the Star.
Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter said there were indeed people who are hell-bent on having Maraga's name rejected by the August House.
"But that is wrong. I support the two nominees because I know they will deliver," Keter said, further dismissing the plot to block Maraga's appointment as useless.
The bid to reject Maraga is a build up to the petition filed in the House by individuals calling themselves Ainamoi residents.
The petitioners are reportedly seeking Maraga's rejection over the “lenient” sentence he issued against the suspects in the January 2008 murder of former area MP David Too, an elder brother of the current area MP Benjamin Lang'at.
However, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen - chairman of Rift Valley MPs parliamentary group - denied the allegations.
"Those are total lies. We are fully behind the nominees presented by the JSC and we have no political or legal reasons to oppose them," Murkomen said.
Maraga's vetting comes after his nomination by the Judicial Service Commission to replace Willy Mutunga, who opted for an in June this year after serving his term.
Court of Appeal Judge Philomena Mwilu was nominated by the JSC on October 10 to succeed Justice Kalpana Rawal who was forced out after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 74 years.
The JSC is expected to send her name to president Uhuru Kenyatta who will then send it back to the MPs for vetting.
"Their fear is premised on the fact that Maraga is a no nonsense person. He is straight forward and is committed to the rule of law. We in ODM will support him and the lady fully because we trust them to continue with the reform agenda started by Mutunga," Wandayi noted.
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The CJ nominee beat top legal brains in the country among them law scholar and human rights defender Makau Mutua, the defunct committee of experts into the new constitution chairman Nzamba Kitonga.
Supreme court Judge Smokin Wanjala and high court judge Roselyn Nambuye among others were interviewed for the job as well.