Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday, January 14, vowed to file a petition before Chief Justice Martha Koome on Thursday, this coming week, seeking the removal of Justice Esther Maina over what he described as misconduct and corruption.
Gachagua revealed that he would be going after Justice Maina for declaring his wealth proceeds of crime without giving him a chance to be heard.
"I will lead by example on Thursday this coming week. I will personally present a petition before CJ Koome against Justice Esther Maina for her removal from the Judiciary for misconduct and corruption. She declared my hard-earned wealth as proceeds of crime without giving me an opportunity to be heard", DP Gachagua.
Speaking at a church service in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet, the DP continued Kenya Kwanza's onslaught against the Judiciary, claiming that the arm of government is corrupt and has failed to act on evidence presented to it allegedly showing corruption amongst its senior officers.
"We would like to ask CJ Koome how many complaints have been filed against judicial officers, how many she has dealt with, and what is the timeline to conclude those petitions she has challenged us to give evidence", Gachagua stated.
He further urged Kenyans to join him and file more petitions if they had similar cases against the judiciary.
During the political meeting, various Kenya Kwanza leaders including President William Ruto turned the screws on the Judiciary, continuing the trend that has threatened to create a political crisis in the country.
Gachagua vs Maina
DP Gachagua is on record stating that former President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime persecuted him for aligning himself with current President William Ruto in the buildup to the 2022 general election.
At the time, Uhuru was supporting opposition leader Raila Odinga for the top seat, while Gachagua, his one-time personal assistant, was a Ruto diehard.
DCI detectives reportedly stormed his house and dragged him out of his sleep as his wife and children watched.
Similarly, in July 2022, Justice Esther Maina ruled that Ksh202 million belonging to the DP was received from government agencies but there was no evidence to show Gachagua had supplied any goods or services to the government and concluded that the funds were proceeds of crime.
The money which was deposited at a microfinance bank, was distributed across three accounts with one holding Ksh165 million.
Reports indicated that the second account held Ksh35 million while Ksh773,228 had been deposited in a third account.
Similarly, authorities seized Ksh1.1 million deposited in a fourth account allegedly belonging to Gachagua's associate.
However, a Nairobi Court in February 2023, handed the money back to Gachagua citing that he had presented enough evidence before the court to warrant the unfreezing of the accounts.
"The money forfeited to the state six months ago was not proceeds of crime and the Deputy President has explained the source and legitimacy of the said money to satisfaction," The Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) noted.
