Supreme Court Judge Smokin Wanjala reprimanded President William Ruto's lawyer Fred Ngatia during the pre-conference of the presidential election petition filed by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his running mate, Martha Karua.
Wanjala, on Tuesday, August 30, interrupted the proceeding to ask the senior counsel to handle himself with decorum before the 7-judge bench.
The commotion came about while Chief Justice Martha Koome was addressing another lawyer regarding affidavits filed by Odinga's team. Ngatia was caught whispering in court and was accused of disrupting the session.
"Mr Ngatia, as senior counsel, you ought to know how to conduct yourself," Wanjala called him out.
Ngatia, however, apologised noting that he was consulting another senior counsel and wasn't intentionally interrupting the CJ.
"May I apologise to my Lord, Supreme Court judge and thank you for reminding me yet again. I am sorry. The whisper was not meant for the court but to learned Counsel," he added.
The interruption came shortly after Ngatia, one of the lawyers representing President-elect William Ruto at the Supreme Court, questioned the Martha Koome-led bench on its decision to limit the DP's defence team to only four.
In his presentation at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, August 30, Ngatia argued that the directive was punitive to the President-elect.
He further lamented that all the other petitioners were allowed to have nearly 16 lawyers yet all their petitions were aimed at nullifying Ruto's election.
"When I look around my colleagues, each represents a party. All the petitioners are the main parties. Each has two lawyers, they (petitioners) are eight, so a total of 16 lawyers. All against the nullification of one person.
"Then that one person, you limit him to four lawyers. I will be the first one to say we are living in tough times. It will be very difficult for me to be able to master defence against all the lawyers when all we have is a team of four," argued Ngatia.
His submission comes hours after the Supreme Court limited ruled that Raila Odinga, William Ruto, and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will be represented by four lawyers each.
In its ruling, the court argued that the move was occasioned by health protocols, limited space, security and time allocated to the petition.
