Two Kenyans who had petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) seeking the removal of Justice Juma Said Chitembwe from office have withdrawn their cases.
The lawyers, Stephen Owoko and John Wangai, cited poor handling of the petition as the reason for the withdrawal.
In an affidavit dated December 1, 2021, the two stated that the JSC had not handled their petition in accordance with the law, forcing the withdrawal as they did not wish to see the law being contravened.
"As ardent defenders of promoting fidelity to the Constitution and strict adherence to the rule of law, we have resolved to withdraw the petition as the matter has not been handled in accordance with the rules of natural justice," read part of the affidavit.
They decried that they had been denied justice, a core tenet in Article 47 on fair administrative action and the fair administrative act.
According to Article 47 on Fair Administrative Action, every person has the right to administrative action that is expeditious, efficient, lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair.
Key issues raised in the petition tabled on November 17, 2021, were previous accusations of the mentioned judge in various graft cases, which they say amounts to gross misconduct and are satisfactory grounds for his removal.
The petitioners stated that on December 8, 2009, Justice Chitembwe was apprehended by anti-corruption officers for making fraudulent payments from public property.
They also made reference to the case where detectives searched the office of Justice Chitembwe and his colleague, allegedly finding a huge sum of money believed to be a bribe.
In the petition, the two also addressed the recent case where an expose was made by former Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, accusing the judge and his relative of soliciting for money to influence a land dispute case that he (Chitembwe) was presiding over.
The expose prompted the JSC to initiate the process of the removal from office of Justice Chitembwe, who has since been summoned by the commission.
Justice Chitembwe will appear before the JSC later this month to respond to queries raised in two other petitions.
