High Court Judge Nicholas Ombija on Tuesday reportedly decided to retire and not face the Judges and Magistrates’ Vetting Board afresh.
It is reported that Justice Ombija sent a letter to his employer and the Vetting Board's chair Sharad Rao, stating that he had opted to take an early retirement.
Ombija's shocking step comes after failed attempts to stop the Board from scrutinizing him, after fresh allegations were levelled against him.
The tough judge continued serving despite being found unfit by the Board in 2012, which cited shortcomings in his temperament.
Justice Ombija challenged the verdict at the High Court, which did not rule in his favour, before taking the matter to the Court of Appeal.
In its ruling, the Appellate Court stated that the Board's decision to vet Justice Ombija afresh was in bad faith, a verdict that the Board protested hence took the case to the Supreme Court.
The Highest Court in the Land upheld the decision by the High Court, directing Rao's team to start scrutiny on Judge Ombija with immediate effect.
Justice Ombija will be remembered for delivering landmark rulings, including the verdict that directed the arrest of Sudan President Omar al Bashir in 2011, prior to his visit in the country.
The decision was protested by the then government which appealed the verdict.
On his part, Ombija said in a television interview that it was very hard to shape him, especially when he believed he had made judicious decisions. The no-nonsense judge further stated that he was just upholding the international criminal law.
At the time, an arrest warrant had been issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against President Bashir, following his indictment in 2009 for alleged crimes in the Darfur conflict in which 300,000 people were killed and two million forced to flee their homes.
