Thursday, October 24, 2024 – Ousted Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua received a career-threatening blow yesterday after the High Court dismissed his impeachment petitions.
A three-judge High Court bench
declined to disqualify itself from hearing and determining the case filed by
Gachagua who had requested the judges recuse themselves, arguing that they were
not legally empaneled.
The bench led by Eric
Ogolla, Anthony Mrima, and Fridah Mugambi ruled that the constitution granted
Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu the powers to select a bench of judges to
determine a case.
Justice Mrima while passing the
ruling, referenced Article 165 (4) of the Constitution which he stated granted
authority to the Deputy Chief Justice to act on behalf of the Chief Justice on
distinct occasions such as the one challenged by Gachagua's legal team.
"It is, therefore, our
finding that the constitutional function of the CJ to assign benches, being an
administrative function, can be performed by the DCJ when the CJ, for good
reason, is unable to perform," noted Justice Mrima.
"In this case, we do not
find any fault in the honourable DCJ assigning judges to sit in this bench more
soon when the honourable Chief Justice has not raised any red flag," he
added.
The bench also went ahead to
dismiss Senior Counsel Muite's allegations that the three-judge bench was
constituted at night without a formal sitting.
According to Justice Fridah
Mugambi, the transfer of documents by the judicial officers could have as well
been done using electronic means and not necessarily physical means as alleged
by Gachagua's legal team.
The impeached deputy president
through his legal team led by Senior Counsel Paul Muite protested the decision
by the three-judge bench to hear and determine the case.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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