NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 6 – The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has placed Environment and Land Court Judge Justice Mohammed Noor Kullow under scrutiny for alleged gross misconduct.
Justice Kullow is one of four judges whose cases have been referred to President William Ruto to form a tribunal and investigate their behavior.
JSC Chair and Chief Justice Martha Koome forwarded the four petitions to President Ruto.
Justice Kullow faces accusations of delays or failure to deliver rulings or judgments in a total of 116 cases.
Five petitions were filed with the Commission calling for his removal.
“The Commission was satisfied that 3 out of the 5 petitions as well as the proceedings at the Commission’s motion had disclosed grounds for his removal from office over gross misconduct; incompetence and violation of the Judicial Service Code of Conduct,” Koome said adding that “two Petitions were dismissed for failure to disclose sufficient grounds for removal.”
Article 168(1) of the Constitution lays out the specific grounds for removal of a judge key among them inability to perform the functions of office due to mental or physical incapacity, bankruptcy, breach of the code of conduct, incompetence, and gross misconduct or misbehavior,
Once the tribunal is established, it will conduct hearings, gather evidence, and submit its recommendations to the President who will in turn accept its recommendation and dismiss the judge or reject the recommendation and reinstate the judge.
According to Chief Justice Koome, the JSC has received 85 complaints against judges since January 2023.
Out of these, 37 were dismissed as they were deemed to be related to the merits or decisional independence of a judge.
Among the remaining petitions, 30 are undergoing preliminary evaluation by the Commission, 11 are awaiting responses from the respective judges, and 3 petitions have been accepted for hearing.
