LSK faults EACC probe on Supreme Court Registrar Nyaiyaki

The Law Society of Kenya has faulted the move by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to initiate a probe on the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Esther Nyaiyaki.

In a letter to the EACC Chairman, Eliud Wabukhala, LSK President Isaac Okero said that a probe on Ms Nyaiyaki will amount to an encroachment on the independence of the Judiciary.

“The EACC has no authority whatsoever to intervene and purport to conduct an enquiry or investigation replicating functions that under the Constitution are expressly anchored in the judiciary and ancillary organs of the judiciary including the JSC [Judicial Service Commission].

“Any such attempt would amount to an attack on the independence of the judiciary and constitute a blatant violation of the Constitution,” the letter read in part.

Okero added that it is only the Supreme Court that has the judicial and constitutional authority to investigate any complaint as to whether or not there has been compliance with its orders.

The Supreme Court registrar was summoned by EACC on September 25 in a letter to Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi.

In the summon letter, Ms Nyaiyaki was asked to record statements over allegations that she misled the Supreme Court judges to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win through a fraudulent report.

She was asked to report to the EACC headquarters on Valley road where she was also supposed to present original copies of the report she prepared for the Supreme Court on the scrutiny of election result forms and other IEBC documents.

In response, however, Nyaiyaki wrote to Chief Justice David Maraga asking him to give her direction on whether she should the honour summons from EACC.

The anti-graft body wants the apex court to hand over all the documents Ms Nyaiyaki and her team relied on in preparing a report for the Supreme Court judges.

EACC summoned the registrar following a complaint by a Kenyan voter identified as Rashid Mohammed.

According to Mr Mohammed, the scrutiny report which was adopted by the majority judges had opposite findings from Justice Njoki Ndung’u’s minority judgmeent.

Therefore, the complainant maintained the report was not factual and as such, EACC should initiate a probe.