High court Judge Nicholas Ombija to be vetted afresh

High Court Judge Nicholas Ombija will undergo fresh vetting after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board that sought orders to vet him again.

The vetting board had filed a petition challenging a ruling by the Appellate Court in December 2015 which prevented it from freshly vetting Justice Ombija.

Supreme Court Judges Dr. Willy Mutunga, Kalpana Rawal, Mohammed Ibrahim, Jackton Ojwang, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung’u allowed a petition filed by the board against a ruling by the Court of Appeal and directed a repeat of the process be conducted without delay.

They also said that the vetting shall proceed on a day- to-day basis until it is concluded by March 31st, as a way of ensuring that Justice Ombija’s right to a just, prompt and fair hearing is protected.

In October 2015, the court had stopped the fresh vetting of the Judge after he protested the process terming it malicious. The vetting board had said it would repeat the process after fresh complaints were lodged against the judge.

The board, chaired by Sharad Rao, had made determination on Justice Ombija in 2012 and cleared him in December the same year after several complainants failed to show up.

Rao disqualified himself from vetting the Judge calling for the Constitution of a new body to handle the matter.