Judge Erastus Githinji, 69, moves to court to stop his retirement

Court of Appeal judge Erastus Githinji has filed an application seeking to quash a decision by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) directing him to retire on July 1, 2019.

The 69-year-old judge, through his lawyer Patrick Kahonge, claims that the administrative decision by JSC is “in bad faith, irrational, unreasonable and adversely affects the judge’s rights.”

He argues that JSC did not properly calculate his age according to his birth certificate, which shows he was born on December 30, 1949 meaning his retirement at 70 is due on December 29, 2019.

Justice Githinji further argues that sending him on retirement in July this year, exposes him to great prejudice including criminal liability as he might be accused of falsifying his date of birth.

The Appellate court judge claims that he was never given an opportunity to be heard before JSC made the decision which was communicated to him in a letter dated October 30, 2018.

He wants the court to issue an order quashing the notice by JSC and stop his retirement.

Justice Erastus Githinji joined the bench in 1975 and was recently transferred from Nairobi to Kisumu.

In June 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that judges must retire at 70 years and not 74 as was the case in the old Constitution.