Ainamoi member of Parliament Benjamin Langat has said he will oppose the appointment of Chief Justice nominee David Maraga in Parliament over his ruling on the trial of his brother David Kimutai Too death.
According to Langat, Justice Maraga erred in his decision to reduce the charge against the officer who killed his brother, who was by then Ainamoi MP, from murder to manslaughter and handing him a less punitive sentence of 10 years.
"He denied my brother and our family justice by reducing the charge to manslaughter when there was sufficient evidence that my brother and his colleague did not attempt to shoot or attack the suspect who ended up killing them. I will oppose his appointment when his name is forwarded to the National Assembly for vetting," he told K24 TV on Monday.
On October 29, 2009, Justice Maraga, then a judge at the High Court in Nakuru, acquitted Andrew Moeche Omwenga of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Omwenga was accused of the murder of the then Ainamoi MP Too and a traffic police officer Eunice Chepkwony in Eldoret town on January 31, 2008.
During the vetting exercise, Maraga was at pains to explain what informed his decision to the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board.
Maraga defended himself saying the Government had appealed against his ruling and added that he was human after all, and was bound to err once in a while.
Langat was elected as the MP for Ainamoi in 2008 upon the death of his brother who previously represented the constituency.