• President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed a 7 member tribunal to investigate the conduct of Supreme Court Judge Jackton Ojwang.
• The Tribunal shall prepare and submit a report and its recommendations thereon to me expeditiously.
Image: FILE
President Uhuru Kenyatta has formed a tribunal to investigate the conduct of Supreme Court Judge Jackton Ojwang.
In a Special Gazette notice, Uhuru on Tuesday said that the judge stands suspended pending the outcome of the tribunal.
The tribunal is chaired by Justice Alnashir Visram and the members are Justice (Rtd.) Festus Azangalala, Ambrose Weda, Andrew Bahati Mwamuye, Lucy Kambuni, Sylvia Wanjiku Muchiri and Amina Abdalla.
In a special gazette notice on Tuesday Uhuru said whereas the question has risen that the conduct of Ojwang ought to be investigated.
The head of State said the move followed allegations contained in the petition by the Judicial Service Commission of Kenya filed by Nelson Oduor Onyango and eight (8) others presented to him regarding the conduct of the judge.
“In the discharge of its functions, the Tribunal shall prepare and submit a report and its recommendations thereon to me expeditiously and exercise all the powers conferred upon it by Law for the proper execution of its mandate,” Uhuru said.
In the meantime, Jackton Boma Ojwang, Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya stands suspended from exercising the functions of his office with immediate effect according to Article 168 (5) of the ConstitutionPresident Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru further appointed Paul Nyamodi (Lead Assisting Counsel) and Stella Munyi (Assisting Counsel), as Counsel to assist the Tribunal appointed to investigate Ojwang.
He said Peter Kariuki and Josiah Musili will serve as Joint Secretaries to the Tribunal.
The decision by the Judicial Service Commission was reached mainly because, in one of the complaints against the judge, there were sufficient grounds to warrant further investigations.
The petition that landed Ojwang in trouble accused him of misconduct, impropriety, conflict of interest and breach of the judicial code of conduct.
They took issue with the fact that the judge sat on a bench of Supreme Court judges in a case that involved Migori County, yet he was closely associated with Governor Okoth Obado.
The nine claimed Obado tarmacked a road leading to the judge’s rural home.
In their view, Ojwang should have informed the court and other parties of his association with the county chief but failed to do so until they protested.
The JSC delved into the complaints.
"Upon presentation of the report by the JSC committee, the full commission deliberated on the same at great length and found that the petition had disclosed sufficient grounds to warrant a recommendation to the President to set up a tribunal for removal of Justice Jacktone Ojwang, and accordingly adopted it,” CJ David Maraga said.
The tribunal will now schedule and conduct thorough investigations.
It will organise hearings. The complainants, Ojwang and witnesses, if any, will appear before the team.
The tribunal will retreat to come up with a decision. Ojwang will remain in office if found not guilty and removed if found guilty.