Protesters at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. [Photo/ One America News Network]
As Supreme Court judges give out their detailed reasoning for invalidating last month’s presidential elections today, the country is now divided right down the middle over the suitability of the judges who made the rare decision. Four judges — David Maraga, Philomena Mwilu, Isaac Lenaola and Smokin Wanjala — agreed to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory, and ordered IEBC to conduct fresh elections within 60 days. Two judges — Njoki Ndung’u and Prof Jackton Ojwang — gave a dissenting ruling, arguing that the ‘administrative errors by IEBC officials were not enough grounds to nullify the election, since Raila Odinga, the petitioner, did not challenge his opponent’s superior votes. Days after the ruling, which President Uhuru Kenyatta sharply disagreed with, Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu filed a petition at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), seeking to remove Chief Justice Maraga over misconduct and unsuitability for office. The MP, however, dropped the petition, after President Kenyatta asked him to during an event in Nyeri. The first-time lawmaker said he still stood by the allegations he made.Just this week, another petition has been filed at the JSC, linking judges Mwilu and Lenaola with senior NASA representatives. The petitioner, Mr Derrick Ngumu — the chief executive at Mombasa-based Angaza Empowerment NGO — provides phone records that appear to show that the judges communicated secretly with Senator James Orengo, Raila’s lead lawyer during the hearing, NASA principal Moses Wetangula, Busia Senator Amos Wako among others. Mr Ngumu accuses the judges of colluding with the senior NASA officials to make the ruling, which set the stage for next month’s repeat polls. “Lenaola and Mwilu met Moses Wetang’ula and James Orengo at Skyview apartments, Kileleshwa on August 17 and 18 and the subject of discussion was the presidential petition,” Mr Ngumu says in the petition. He argues that the judges should have disqualified themselves from the hearing after the alleged unethical interactions with NASA officials. “The two did not bring the discussion before the attention of the court or to the parties during the petition,” he says. Judge Mwilu, the petition says, held a two-hour meeting with Busia Senator Amos Wako, and later communicated with Senator Wetangula through brother Emmanuel. “The DCJ met with Wetang’ula at Menelik Hospital, a meeting facilitated by Emmanuel several times during the petition period,” the petition says. The criticism of the Supreme Court judges led to protests on Tuesday, which saw Jubilee supporters storm the highest court in the land to call for the removal of CJ Maraga.