Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Eric Theuri and a host of leaders from the opposition have weighed in on Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's upcoming petition to remove Justice Esther Maina.
In an Elgeyo-Marakwet Church Service attended by his boss William Ruto on Sunday, Rigathi stated that he will file the petition on Thursday to remove the judicial officer, claiming that Justice Maina declared his Ksh202 million wealth proceeds of crime without giving him a chance to defend himself.
Theuri, while appearing on Citizen TV on Monday morning, criticised the DP's decision to make a public statement over the case instead of making a formal complaint with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
He, however, noted that LSK will wait and see the evidence provided by the second-in-command.
"You see an attempt to seriously encroach into the independence of the Judiciary," he stated.
"I have heard the sentiments that were made by the Deputy President and I thought to myself, if you have sentiments of corruption against a particular judge, just present it to the Judicial Service Commission. You do not need to go and make public pronouncements."
Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina, who was part of the panelists, backed Theuri's view accusing President William Ruto and his deputy of attempting to control the Judiciary.
"We must continue strengthening our Judiciary because, without a strong Judiciary, we give room to corruption and lack of accountability," Ledama insisted.
He argued that if aggrieved by a ruling, the law was clear that an individual, no matter their social ranking, was expected to challenge it through the JSC.
"We have the JSC which I believe is a competent body that can be able to deal with any issues of complaint. I think what the President and his deputy are doing is completely trying to usurp powers or take away the independence of the Judiciary," the Senator added.
"When you hear sentiments by the Deputy President saying that he will be the first one to go in and complain about a particular Judge, he is being so petty and personal. When you have an issue or concerns, then bring them to the table."
Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, who is also a member of the opposition coalition, cast a dark cloud over the success of the DP's petition arguing that it was a matter of appeal.
"(This is) dead on arrival! That’s a matter for appeal or review, not removal!" He insisted.
The Deputy President revealed that he will file the petition on Thursday seeking the removal of the judge over what he described as her misconduct and corruption.
"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.
Lawyer Ahmednassir also disagreed with Gachagua's stance defending Justice Maina as a principled judge.
"Deputy President Gachagua is plainly wrong on this. Justice Maina is a principled judge who has a clean record from the magistracy to the High Court. I have strongly disagreed with her on the few occasions I appeared before her, and I told her in court that I found her too 'pro-government.' But she isn't a judge one can accuse of corruption or incompetence," stated the lawyer.
"The sentiments by DP Gachagua must, however, be appreciated in light of CJ Koome's woeful inability to provide a road map to address corruption and incompetence in the judiciary. Koome must realise that burying her head in the sand won't do it!"
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.
