NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 21 – A petitioner filed a suit at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Tuesday seeking the removal of Justice Anthony Mrima as a High Court Judge on the grounds of gross incompetence.
The petition was submitted by Michael Mutembei Kibutha, who accused Justice Mrima of breaching the judicial code of conduct and ethics by sentencing the Directorate of Criminal Investigations chief George Kinoti without affording him an audience to refute the charges.
The judge sentenced Kinoti to four months at Nairobi’s Kamiti prison for contempt when he failed to submit weapons seized from businessman Jimmy Wanjigi during a 2017 raid at his Nairobi home by security agencies.
Mutembei argued that the judgment exhibited bias and failed to show impartiality despite what he termed as evidence disapproving the contempt allegations.
“The sentence of one George Kinoti to imprisonment was made under the court’s stubborn insistence that the firearms and the guns that belonged to jimmy Wanjigi Richards were in possession of Mr. Kinoti which is a position that is hitherto unsupported by the law and uncorroborated by the material evidence that was made available in court,” the petition read in part.
Mutembei added that Kinoti was singled out, from three parties that Wanjigi had sued before Justice Chacha Mwita under Petition No. 520 of 2017, and his sole sentencing was an outright act of disregard to the Constitution of Kenya.
“This inevitably demonstrates that the accused judge was acting discriminately and out of vengeance and ill will,” the petition added.
Mutembei described Kinoti as a renowned officer who had demonstrated acts of heroism on numerous occasions accusing Justice Mrima of disregarding his numerous accolades.
The petition was filed a week after the Court of Appeal stayed an arrest warrant issued against Kinoti (pictured) pending a ruling on an application he filed contesting the order/FILE
He called on the JSC to investigate the conduct of Justice Mrima in order to determine whether he had an ulterior motive on taking a deliberate legal misdirection.
“It is appalling and a clear abuse of the judicial discretion to have witnessed the accused judge runs over the Director of the Criminal Investigations. Judge Mrima clearly ignored the required procedures when the court is invited to conduct contempt of court proceedings and by so doing proceeded to act grossly and in an unprecedented fashion that bespoke either his lack of objectivity or competency in handling the issue,” the petition read in part.
The petition was filed a week after the Court of Appeal stayed an arrest warrant issued against Kinoti pending a ruling on an application he filed contesting the order.
The judge sentenced Kinoti to four months at Nairobi’s Kamiti prison for contempt when he failed to submit weapons seized from businessman Jimmy Wanjigi (pictured) during a 2017 raid at his Nairobi home by security agencies/FILE
Kinoti had moved to the court contesting Justice Anthony Mrima’s order delivered on November 29 after weeks of intense litigation processes which yielded another order directing Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai to affect the arrest.
In an application filed by city lawyer Cecil Miller, Kinoti had sought orders to have a removal of his four-month jail term.
He argued that the High Court refused to listen to his side of the story, arguing that he was not the custodian of Jimi Wanjigi’s firearms, and that the Firearms Licensing Board should have been questioned.
Justices Imaana Laibuta, Fatuma Sichale and Msagha Mbogholi said the court would make a ruling on April 1, 2022.
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