The Supreme Court has filed responses after two cases were filed at the High Court challenging its directive which banned Senior counsel Ahmednassir Abdulahi and his associates from appearing before it.
Supreme Court judges led by Chief Justice Martha Koome argued that the High Court lacks the jurisdiction to hear petitions filed against them, adding that the lawyer can only challenge the ban before the apex court.
The judges further ordered High Court Judge Chacha Mwita to strike out two cases challenging their ban on Ahmednassir also known as the Grand Mullah.
“This court is expressly prohibited from exercising jurisdiction over matters reserved for the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court or in which it exercises its appellate jurisdiction under article 163 (4) (a) and (b) of the Constitution,” the Supreme Court noted.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Ahmednassir's law firm separately filed petitions at the High Court, challenging the Supreme Court’s directive that banned the lawyer from appearing before the apex court.
“This honourable court has no jurisdiction to hear the challenge relating to the letter issued by the Registrar of the Supreme Court on January 18, 2024, notifying parties of the decision of the judges of the Supreme Court,” the Supreme Court added.
According to the letter sent to Ahmednassir, the Supreme Court through its lawyers emphasised that no proceedings were allowed against them, terming the two petitions as an abuse of the process of the honourable court.
“The letter is not a decision but merely conveys the decision of the judges of the Supreme Court not to give audience to Ahmednassir which was formalised by the recusal order made by the Supreme Court on January 23, 2024,” the apex court added.
The Supreme Court on January 18, 2024, banned the renowned lawyer from appearing before it, over what it termed as the consistent issuing of controversial remarks against the judges on social media.
"Given the foregoing, it is the decision of this court, that henceforth and from the date of this communication, you shall have no audience before the court, either by yourself, through an employee of your law firm, or any other person," read part of the statement by the Supreme Court.
In response to the ban, the lawyer vowed to petition the matter at the East African Court of Justice, faulting the apex court for denying him a chance to defend himself.
“I have instructed my lawyers to file a petition in the East African Court of Justice at Arusha to seek legal redress against Koome. I will not waste time going to Koome's courts,” Ahmednasir noted.
