Judges Refuse To Recuse Themselves From Gachagua Impeachment Case
The bench was to decide on Friday, October 25 whether to stay or proceed with Gachagua’s impeachment trial, following his request to have the judges disqualify themselves from the case.
Viral Tea Ke Writer 
A three-judge bench of the High Court has for the second time in a week declined to recuse itself from the impeachment case involving former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Eric Ogola, who is part of the three-judge bench, ruled that the applicant’s request for the judges to recuse themselves “has been disallowed.” However, the petitioners were allowed to file and serve an amended petition if the need was within five days of this order.
In view of the nature of the pending applications of conservatory orders, Ogola stated that the applications seeking to discharge, view and set aside the orders shall be deemed as responses to applications of the conservatory orders.
“Parties are at liberty to file and serve any responses and any further responses to the applications or together with substantial submissions within two days of this court,” Ogola ruled. The said applications are set for hearing on Tuesday, October 29 at 10:00 AM at Milimani Law Court.
Ousted DP Rigathi Gachagua with Cleophas Malala at the Milimani Law Courts on October 22, 2024. /X
The bench was to decide on Friday, October 25 whether to stay or proceed with Gachagua’s impeachment trial, following his request to have the judges disqualify themselves from the case.
Gachagua, through his legal team, had argued that the presiding judges; Justices Eric Ogola, Anthony Mrima, and Frida Mugambi, have potential conflicts of interest that could compromise their impartiality. With claims of connections to high-profile political figures, Gachagua’s lawyers sought to challenge the judges’ ability to remain neutral.
Popular city lawyer, Ndegwa Njiru on Thursday, October 24 opened a can of worms as he joined fellow advocates representing Gachagua in staging their defence for their case to have the three-judge bench recuse themselves from the matter.
During a session at the Milimani Law Courts, Njiru, in raising concerns about the judges’ impartiality, singled out Justice Ogola's spouse, wildly claiming that she was a beneficiary of the 'shareholding' in the Kenyan government, a matter whose remarks by Gachagua formed the first out of five grounds for his impeachment by the National Assembly and the Senate.
Njiru specifically pointed out that Justice Ogola's wife holds a position in the Kenya Water Towers Agency, an appointment made by the presidency, arguing that this showed evidence of the shareholding sentiments that Gachagua stood firm on, numerous times.
"One of the issues that was before the impeachment, was that the Deputy President, the petitioner herein, indicated that Kenya is a shareholding country. There are shareholding agreements before you and positions either in parastatals or cooperations were to be shared in accordance with that share agreement," he argued, adding "It is my client’s submission that Justice Eric Ogola’s wife may have been a beneficiary of that shareholding."
Njiru went on to outline that the application also indicated that Justice Ogola's spouse serves in the Kenya Water Towers Agency, an appointment that was done according to a gazette notice for and on behalf of the presidency by Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya, adding that the averment was that this was a matter that should have been disclosed at the inception of the proceedings.
Advocate Kibe Mungai backed Njiru's sentiments, revealing the close relationship between Justice Murima and Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, a respondent in the case.
"The honourable Judge Mrima and the fourth respondent, Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi are very close friends. The respondent attended the wedding ceremony of the judge and he took a photograph with him," exposed Mungai, further highlighting how Speaker Kingi captioned images from the wedding, where he described the judge as his "long-time friend."
At the same time, Justice Ogolla while reading the judgement, also declined to set aside the conservatory orders that stopped the swearing-in of nominated Deputy President Kithure Kindiki. The judge, instead, announced that the court would decide whether to lift the orders on Tuesday, October 29.
"Given the pending application of the conservatory orders and those seeking to set aside the conservatory orders, we hereby direct as follows; the applications shall be deemed as responses for the conservatory orders. The set applications are thereby fixed for hearing on October 29 this month," noted Justice Ogolla.
