Lawyer Philip Murgor, who is among the candidates to be interviewed for the Chief Justice position, now wants DCJ Philomena Mwilu not to be among the JSC panel that will interview them.
Murgor wants Mwilu to disqualify herself from the interviewing process for both the CJ and judge and of the Supreme Court positions.
In a letter to the JSC responding to President Nelson Havi's memorandum on him being unfit for the position, Murgor says there is a client-advocate relationship between Mwilu and Havi.
“At this stage, it bears pointing out that Havi represents DCJ Mwilu in several cases pending before the courts and in complaints pending before the JSC,” Murgor says.
Murgor also says lawyer Fred Ngatia who is also among the candidates was Mwilu’s lawyer in 2012 when she was being vetted by JSC.
He says Havi is publicly campaigning for Ngatia while disparaging the reputation of the other candidates.
"The candidates appear to be caught up in a conspiracy between Mwilu and her two advocates,” the letter states.
"Murgor says Havi and Mwilu are presumed to consult as often as is required to prepare for the multiplicity of cases or matters which is not a problem but in this case he has been a greatest commentator of the recruitment process on social media."
Murgor claims that Havi even went as far as expressing preference for some candidates while declaring others as unsuitable and predicting the eventual outcome.
“Havi and commissioner Mwilu are both aware that to express views on a process where she is an active participant as a voting member places her in an acutely embarrassing predicament which has now given rise to a massive conflict of interest,” the letter reads.
Murgor says she should disqualify herself because that’s the only way the integrity of the process will be preserved.
“Indeed, should Havi’s preferred candidate secure the positions, the public perception will be that he and his client Mwilu had all along been working in collusion to achieve a pre-determined outcome of discrediting some candidates to illegally ensure the success of others,” he says.
