Duale: Election petitions handled by the Supreme Court should be reviewed

Few days after being embroiled in a Twitter spat with the Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga over alleged corruption in the Judiciary and Parliament, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has now asked for the review of all election petitions handled by the Supreme Court.

Duale claims that the verdicts issued by the highest court in the land could have been influenced by bribery of judges.

The Garissa Township MP now wants the Chief Justice to resign following corruption allegations facing the Judiciary.

“He (Dr Mutunga) indicted the Judicial Service Commission last night (Friday). He said the election of JSC was marred by bribery and corruption; the  Supreme Court is marred by corruption; I’ll go further and ask that the petition cases the Supreme Court has handled pertaining to Governors, Members of Parliament and Senators, be reviewed, said Duale

“Look at the case of Dr Kidero; the Court of Appeal nullified his election, and called for a by-election, but the Supreme Court overturned the petition cases; there’s no single judgment of the Supreme Court where they have agreed with other lower courts,” added Mr Duale.

And speaking about Tuesday spat on twitter between him and the Chief Justice over alleged graft, Duale says he engaged the CJ because he (Dr Mutunga) is “quick to point fingers at the executive and parliament when it comes to matters graft.”

Mr Duale says it is unfortunate that the cancer of corruption has now spread to the Judiciary which is tasked with the responsibility of dispensing justice to all Kenyans.

“If today the head of that institution which went through vetting is saying on national television that a judge is bribing a judge; that the Supreme Court where he is the president, is involved in USD2 million bribery, then from where I sit I think the Chief Justice should resign,” said the National Assembly Majority Leader.

“We want to tell the CJ you are the head, the buck stops with you; tell us how you want to fix the corruption allegations you are facing as the CJ and as the chair of the JSC and President of the Supreme Court,” he added.

Mr Duale added that the troubles facing the Judiciary could also be as a result of the Mutunga succession tussle.

“Different groups both in the legal professions and within the Judiciary are positioning their people in the succession power play. I think it’s now confirmed that the Judiciary is not as clean as people perceive it; justice is being bought, and that is the biggest crime you can commit to the new constitution. This is a serious matter that needs to be addressed,” said Mr Duale.

The Chief Justice on Tuesday, January 26 admitted that while there was corruption in the corridors of justice, the MPs could not pretend to shine a torch on the rot.

“I can confirm the Judiciary will never reach the graft levels achieved by Parliament,” he said before garnering support from two senior lawyers and former Justice Minister Martha Karua, who agreed with him.

The Law Society of Kenya Chief Executive Officer Apollo Mboya sided with the CJ saying MPs expressed anger when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission exposed graft within their ranks.

“I further confirm that National Assembly invited @EACCKenya to audit but went wild when the report was tabled,” Mr Mboya tweeted.

Martha Karua on the other hand reminded Kenyans that in the 10th Parliament, when she served as Gichugu constituency MP, she labeled the August House as “the biggest auction house in Africa”.

Mr Duale now wants the Chief Justice to appear before the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee when parliament resumes.

“Parliament resumes on February. The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee must address issues facing the Judiciary; I expect the CJ to invite the EACC; the JSC has no investigative capacity. What the CJ and the JSC are doing is not fair to Justice Tonui, it’s not fair to the people of Kenya. If they have the evidence against him, let them present it to the investigative institutions like the EACC, Auditor General, National Intelligence Service and the Director of Criminal Investigations,” said Duale.

JSC is investigating claims that Justice Philip Tunoi was bribed with $2 million (Sh200 million) by Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero to dismiss an election petition filed by Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu who was his main challenger then.

Mr Duale says that behaviour change among Kenyans, besides institutional mechanisms employed to fight graft, will help in subduing the national cancer.

“My position has been very clear and consistent that corruption has permeated in all sectors of the Kenyan society; be it in the judiciary, parliament or even the executive. Corruption is in the body and spirit of Kenyans. The only way we can fight corruption is if Kenyans in their respective individuals agree to fight the practice through behaviour change,” he said.