Gachagua Makes U-Turn On Filing Petition To Remove High Court Judge Esther Maina

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has now announced that he will not move to file a petition before Chief Justice Martha Koome at the Supreme Court of Kenya seeking the removal of Justice Esther Maina...for now.

In a statement sent to Viral Tea on Thursday, January 18, Gachagua acknowledged that he would take a backseat from his position temporarily after Chief Justice Martha Koome responded to his sentiments.

The DP was to file evidence against the High Court Judge today before CJ Koome.

"Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua notes the current national discourse on judicial transparency and the application of Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya on the conduct of Judges and other Judicial Officers. He welcomes the statement by Chief Justice Martha Koome inviting dialogue on the critical issue of accountability of the Judiciary, which H.E President William Ruto has embraced," read the statement in part.

He also called on Kenyans to rally behind Ruto who has been calling for dialogue with CJ Martha Koome over alleged corruption in the Judiciary.

"The Deputy President urges all Kenyans to support this process. In this regard, the Deputy President will not proceed with the matter of the petition, for now," the statement added.

Gachagua, who spoke on Sunday, January 14 during a church service in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County attended by President Ruto, explained that he was aggrieved by the judge's decision to declare his wealth as proceeds of crime in what he termed an act of misconduct and corruption, adding that he was not given a chance to be heard.

"I will lead by example on Thursday this coming week. I will personally present a petition before CJ Koome against Justice Esther Maina for her removal from the Judiciary for misconduct and corruption. She declared my hard-earned wealth as proceeds of crime without allowing me to be heard," he announced.

The Lady Justice was yet to respond to the allegations made by the DP. However, it was she whose ruling in July 2022 saw Gachagua compelled to surrender Ksh202 million to the government.

At the time, the Anti-Corruption Court in Nairobi found that the millions were frozen by the State in his bank accounts after it was found to amount to proceeds of corruption.

The following day, CJ Koome, who chairs the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), broke down the process of having a judge removed from office over allegations that include gross misconduct and corruption.

"We want to assure Kenyans that JSC has continued to deal firmly with all the allegations of corruption and misconduct presented to the commission. We also want to emphasize that to remove a judge from office, the provisions are specified in the Constitution.

"Where any or some of these grounds are alleged, the concerned judge is entitled to due process. Should the tribunal recommend the removal of a judge, that judge also has a right to challenge the decision of the tribunal through an appeal process to the Supreme Court," she addressed.