The Impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua fights back on his impeachment case a day before meeting Chief Justice (CJ) Martha Koome.
In a letter dated October 20, Gachagua’s lawyers have written to the Judiciary questioning how one of the cases challenging his impeachment was placed before a 3-judge bench on a Saturday, without express direction from CJ.
“We act for His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua, the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya (hereafter referred to as “our Client” who is the Petitioner in this matter,” the letter read in part.
The letter addressed to the Judiciary specifically outlines that the 3-Judge-Bench was constituted of 6 cases, and the two cases they now want to work on, on Tuesday were not among them.
The second concern touches on why the applicants or petitioners were denied a date for the cases citing that they did not have an open date until October 29; for the cases, it was allocated.
However, the lawyers further elaborated that when the government went to the same Bench with these two new cases the bench somehow managed to find two days earlier than the 29th they had said they would be available, which included them sitting on Saturday the 19th, and giving a hearing date for Tuesday 22nd October.
The lawyers indicate that the bench did not only find two dates before the 29th for the government; they were even able to bring the cases forward from the 24th that the cases had been sent to by the earlier judges. The same judges who had told the petitioner that they would only be available on 29th October!
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Gachagua Lawyers Demands
In consideration of the foregoing information, the letter highlighted that in this particular case where at around 1.35 pm on Friday 18th October 2024, Justice Chacha Mwita directed that the file should be remitted to the Chief Justice.
Gachagua lawyers therefore demand to know the following:
- Was the file taken to the Chief Justice, and at what time? We are dealing with constitutional functions under 165(4) and the Chief Justice appreciates that these are matters of record and that is why the constitution of the bench is recorded in the respective file.
- Whether indeed there are directions recorded in the file constituting the bench which then proceeded to issue directions on Saturday, 19th October 2024.
Moreover, the legal team further explained the reason for the above demands citing that on Saturday, 19th October 2024, an application was filed. However, they were not notified about the bench being constituted. Gachagua lawyers confirmed in the letter that they have now been served with orders issued by a three-judge bench.
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“To the best of our knowledge the bench constituting Justice Ogola, Justice Mrima and Lady Justice Mugambi had only been constituted to hear other petitions consolidated under Nairobi High Court Petition No. 522 of 2024 and not the instant Petition,” the letter reiterated.
The 3-Judge Bench Issue New Hearing Date
Gachagua’s legal team further noted that the same judges who declined the Petitioner’s request for an early mention date in Nairobi High Court Petition No. 522 of 2024 have now issued a hearing date of 22nd October 2024 in the instant matter which had been scheduled for mention on 24th October 2024 under the directions issued by the Justice Chacha Mwita.
“We have received an email from counsel for the Attorney General indicating that Kerugoya High Court Petition No. E015 of 2024 and Nairobi High Court Petition No. E565 of 2024 have been consolidated. Kindly confirm whether indeed the two matters have been consolidated as indicated,” the counsel reiterated.
Further, the counsel elaborated, “As counsel for the Petitioner in Nairobi High Court Petition No. E565 of 2024, we have not been heard on the issue of consolidation and, strangely, the petitions can be termed as such. It is therefore not clear when and how the two petitions were consolidated (if at all).
The counsel, therefore, has sent a copy of this letter to the Chief Justice from whom they are seeking a written response on the issues raised.
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