Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi has sued Kenya at the East Africa Court of Justice (EACJ) challenging the decision of the Supreme Court of Kenya to permanently ban him from appearing or making submissions before the Court.
Abdullahi in the lawsuit filed at EACJ on March 20, 2024, asked for reliefs including Ksh200 million in damages for alleged violation of his right to fair administrative action and listed the Attorney General as a respondent in the case.
The outspoken lawyer argued that the indefinite ban violates universally accepted human rights standards which anticipate a time-bound suspension.
“The conduct of the justices of the supreme court is unbecoming and does not comply with fundaments principle of good governance including maintenance of internationally accepted standards of human rights,” the court papers read in part.
According to the suit by the Senior Counsel, the Supreme Court unlawfully denied him audience based on a judge-made era which was intended to stop him from publicly speaking about corruption within the Judiciary.
In his argument, the lawsuit stated that freedom of expression allowed him to criticize the Court and its judges to expose incompetence, corruption, and other shortcomings in the administration of justice.
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“It can never be reasonably justifiable in an open and democratic society for justices of the apex court of the land to cloister themselves by taking such a cruel measure that does not advance transparency in the Judiciary and impose such a drastic measure which is intended to deny the applicant his livelihood,” his legal team argued.
Ahmednasir demands Ksh 200 Million
The Ksh200 million that the Senior Counsel seeks as compensation of damages is allegedly the total sum of legal fees the lawyer would have earned in all the cases that he was hired to represent clients. These cases still have a pending determination at the Supreme Court.
Abdullahi further faulted the Supreme Court judges for violating the fundamental principle of the rule of law, claiming that the ban was imposed following an exchange of messages on WhatsApp platform between a few members of the Supreme Court bench.
“The respondent State manipulated the law on contempt of court in order to achieve a result that favored impunity and limited the applicant’s freedom of expression in that the Justices of the Supreme Court do not have any powers to punish the applicant for the social media posts, media interviews and write-ups that allegedly damage the reputation of the justices of the Supreme Court and the judges who have served thereon over the year,” Ahmednasir stated in court papers.
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He claims that the top judges have manipulated laws on contempt of court to unlawfully ban him from appearing before the Supreme Court.
Abdullahi banned
The lawyer together with his firm’s associates was permanently barred from appearing or making submissions before the apex court in January 2024.
Through a statement released on January 18, 2024, the Supreme Court noted that the lawyer had “relentlessly scandalized and ridiculed” it.
“In view of the foregoing, it is the decision of this Court, that henceforth and from the date of this communication, you shall have no audience before the Court, either by yourself, through an employee of your law firm, or any other person holding brief for you,” read the statement in part.
In his reaction after the ban, the lawyer immediately rebuffed the statement terming the ban “a badge of honor”.
