Chief Justice Martha Koome has empanelled a three-judge bench to hear petitions challenging the removal of five Supreme Court judges.
Koome appointed Justice Charles Kariuki as the presiding judge, who will sit alongside Justices Bahati Mwamuye and Lawrence Mugambi.
The affected Supreme Court judges are contesting a series of petitions filed against them over alleged integrity issues, including some filed by former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi.
In his petition seeking their removal, Havi contended that the Supreme Court had been entertaining appeals lacking significant public interest, particularly in high-stakes commercial cases, suggesting potential graft and misuse of judicial authority.
On April 10, High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye dismissed an application filed by Nelson Havi, associates of Ahmednasir Abdullahi, and Dari Limited—linked to former Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju—seeking to strike out two petitions filed by Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Justice Mohamed Ibrahim.
In the same ruling, Justice Mwamuye allowed an application by the DCJ and Justice Ibrahim to have the matters certified as raising novel constitutional issues that warranted determination by more than one judge. He consequently referred the file to Chief Justice Martha Koome for empanelment.
Additionally, the court has barred the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) from processing or hearing the petitions until the matter is heard and determined.
Lawyers for the respondents, including Havi, argued that Chief Justice Koome should not appoint a bench in a case where she is personally involved, citing a potential conflict of interest that could compromise the integrity of the proceedings.
CJ Koome, who also serves as the President of the Supreme Court, alongside Justices Njoki Ndung'u, Isaac Lenaola, William Ouko, and Smokin Wanjala, had moved to the High Court to challenge the JSC's handling of petitions seeking their removal.
The three-bench judge will now hear the petitions and issue a ruling in what might be a landmark ruling on the service and tenure of the CJ and SCORK judges.
The developments come less than a fortnight after Havi, on April 26, gave Koome 14 days to appoint a judge bench to listen to a petition filed by her and fellow Supreme Court judges seeking to stop the JSC from listening to petitions seeking her removal.
Through a statement, Havi, a fierce critic of the CJ, asserted that he would renew his battle with Koome, vowing to file another petition against the embattled head of the Judiciary.
