Chief Justice, Martha Karambu Koome, has dismissed a report by the Nation indicating that she recommended the impeachment of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In a statement by her lawyer, Charles Kanjama, on Saturday, June 11, the CJ stated that the report was not factual. Kanjama stated that Chief Justice Koome has not made an application for the impeachment of the President.
The CJ stated that the appeal was filed on April 26, 2022, and what was reported by the Daily Nation was also an inaccurate date.
"The appeal is now awaiting a hearing date. The timing of the report one and a half months after the Memorandum of Appeal was filed is questionable," the clarification by lawyer Kanjama indicated.
The lawyer further explained that the CJ has filed an appeal where she notes the suitable action to the petition by Katiba Institute on the appointment of six Judges by the President.
"The appeal merely notes that the appropriate remedy to the Katiba Institute petition is a declaration that the cure for violation of the Constitution is the impeachment of the President or any other order that secures his direct accountability to the Court," Kanjama stated.
Notably, the Chief Justice was included in a petition filed by Katiba Institute in 2020 seeking orders that the Chief Justice should be allowed to perform the President's role of appointing Judges nominated by JSC that the President had failed to appoint.
Through her lawyer, CJ Koome maintained that the role of appointing Judges is given in the Constitution to the President and not the Chief Justice, so she will not bypass that and swear in the Judges.
"It would create an unfortunate two-tier system in the Judiciary if some Judges came into office without a presidential appointment.
"Thus, the proper remedy to Katiba Institute, which went to court, is for the existing constitutional enforcement mechanism to be applied to deal with the President's refusal to appoint the six Judges," the CJ stated.
The Nation reported that CJ Koome wants the Court of Appeal to declare that President Uhuru Kenyatta violated the Constitution by failing to appoint six of the 40 Judges nominated by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) three years ago.
"Instead, she has proposed for a declaration that the President has violated Articles 3(1) and 166(1)(b) of the Constitution or any other order that secures direct accountability of the President," the publication indicated.
