The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has indefinitely adjourned the oral hearing of petitions for the removal from office of Justice Juma Said Chitembwe over graft claim.
This comes as a relief to the judge who had been pushing for more time to file his responses in the probe against him.
Chitembwe had earlier moved to court to block the hearings, decrying that he had not been allocated enough time to prepare for the petitions against him.
The hearing was overtuned after high court judge Justice Hedwig Ong’udi ruled that halting the inquiry would interfere with the mandate of JSC, without hearing the respondents who want Chitembwe out of office.
"The application is based on an allegation that the petitioner was not given sufficient time to respond. That to me is an issue that JSC is able to deal with," Justice Ongundi stated in his statement.
"I have therefore not been shown any violation of the law to make this court grant the prayers sought by the petitioner at this point,” he further added.
The High Court argued that the judge had been given a few days to get witnesses and consult his advocates in preparation for the petitions.
This comes after the commission summoned the judge to appear on Tuesday, December 14, after leaked footage was released by former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko on his social media accounts linked him to bribery claims.
Chitembwe found fault in the recordings, stating that they were obtained without his knowledge and consent, claiming that they were obtained in contravention of the Constitution.
"The petitioner is aggrieved that the petitions for his removal from office and the proceedings by the 6th respondent (JSC) under Article 168(1) & (2) of the constitution are based on the petitioner’s private conversations obtained without his consent and in violation of his rights to privacy,” Chitembwe expressed in his statement,
He also argued that the proceedings are on the basis of illegally obtained evidence, hence the move to block the proceedings.
The former Chief Justice candidate also challenged the purported recorded video conversation between his brother Amana Saidi Jirani and an unidentified person on an unknown date.
