• Faces charges of abuse of office, failure to pay taxes and forgery
• She argues that any claim concerning the banking and commercial transactions should have been pursued by the bank but wasn't
Image: COLLINS KWEYU
Deputy Supreme Court Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu will know in two months whether she will face trial on corruption allegations.
A five-judge bench yesterday said it will deliver its verdict on May 31, after parties made their final submissions on Thursday.
Arguments on her petition to block prosecution ended yesterday after three consecutive days.
The charges facing Mwilu relate to credit transactions between her and Imperial Bank. She is accused of accessing loans without following proper procedure.
She is also accused of failure to pay stamp duty on four properties she purchased between 2014 and 2016.
The bank is under receivership.
Mwilu also faces charges of abuse of office, failure to pay taxes and forgery.
Through her lawyers Nelson Havi and James Orengo, she maintains that malice and ulterior motives were behind the decision to charge her. She had already been vetted for the DCJ's position.
She told Justices William Musyoki, Mumbi Ngugi, Hellen Omondi, Francis Tuiyott and Chacha Mwita that the allegations against her involve purely commercial transactions with no connection to the pursuit of criminal justice.
Mwilu argued that any claim concerning the banking and commercial transactions should have been pursued by the bank.
On the other hand, the Director of Public Prosecutions urged the court to dismiss Mwilu’s petition and let the law take its course.
Queens Counsel Khawar Qureshi said the DCJ has failed to prove that the corruption charges leveled against her are politically instigated as alleged.
He said the DPP followed the law in preferring charges, that the decision reached was purely based on evidence, law and the public interest.
“There is simply no basis to assert that DPP’s decision was done by improper consideration. These assertions do not suffice,” Qureshi said.
Yesterday’ lawyers also were urged to conduct themselves with decorum.
The remark was made after the Queens Counsel complained of a tweet by lawyer Havi regarding Mwilu’s case.
“Advocates of this court have a responsibility to behave ethically and responsibly. It’s unacceptable what he did. The court process is in danger of being brought to disrepute,” Qureshi said.
He said he expects courtesy from all parties. “I have tried my best despite provocation. This is professional misconduct. Let Havi exercise humility. Let him apologise hear and now!” he said.
Havi said he will not apologise and went on to accuse the DPP of being behind the #JudiciaryMassageParlor online campaign that hit social media a month ago to highlight decay in the system.
The DPP said it’s absurd for Havi to claim they were behind the campaign and challenged him to produce evidence.
But Havi said he will neither apologise nor pull down his tweet. “I do not know why the DPP wants to curtail my freedom. If he wants prominence, let him form his own account and do the same. I will not apologise."
In a brief ruling, the bench said it cannot control social media but the advocates cannot try the case on social media.
“Certain decorum is expected by all parties, no matter how acrimonious the situation is. We will not hesitate to reprimand Havi. We urge all to have some form of decorum,” they ruled.
Edited by Rawlings Otini.