Former Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Gladys Boss Shollei. Photo/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 4 – The case filed by Gladys Boss Shollei challenging her sacking by the Judicial Service Commission has been referred to the Industrial Court.
High Court judge Mumbi Ngugi issued the directive after lawyer Paul Muite for the JSC argued that the matter was one between an employer and an employee.
The case is now due before the presiding judge of the Industrial Court on Tuesday for further directions.
Shollei, who is represented by lawyer Donald Kipkorir moved to court last week to contest her sacking and is also seeking compensation for wrongful dismissal.
Prior to her sacking Shollei had argued that she was not answerable to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) but to the National Assembly, the National Treasury, Auditor General, the Public Procurement Oversight Authority and the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission.
She explained that even though the JSC insisted on probing her itself, she never got a fair hearing after she was denied a chance to call her own witnesses and defend herself.
Shollei maintained that seven of her rights had been violated by the JSC including the right to a fair trial, the right to a public hearing, her right to the presumption of innocence and her right to be heard by an impartial tribunal.
Other rights which she says were violated were the right to due process of the law, her right to inherent dignity and her right to information regarding the material used in the proceedings against her.
“The respondent, in proceeding as it did, to remove the petitioner brazenly and egregiously violated the well established principles of jurisdiction, natural justice and bias,” argued Shollei in the application.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has at the same time accused the JSC of mishandling the entire saga and using it to settle personal issues against Shollei.
Shollei had accused some commissioners including advocate Ahmednasir Abdullahi of bullying her so as to get personal favours granted.
The other two are Commissioners Emily Ominde and Mohammed Warsame.
“The three Commissioners told me to my face that I will pay for any refusal to accede to their demands,” she stated in an earlier application.
Shollei was sacked on grounds of incompetence, misbehaviour, violation of prescribed code of conduct for judicial officers, violation of Chapter 6 and Article 32 of the Constitution of Kenya and insubordination.
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