A Supreme Court Judge has threatened to sue lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi for linking him to bribery claims in the Wajir governor election petition.
Justice Mohammed Ibrahim has demanded that Abdullahi retract and apologise for comments made on his Twitter handle claiming the judge had been bribed to rule with the majority in the decision to uphold the election of Governor Mohamed Abdi.
In his demand letter through lawyer Wambua Kilonzo, Justice Ibrahim threatened to sue for defamation unless Abdullahi published an apology in at least two newspapers of nationwide circulation and delete the tweets in the next seven days.
“You must also desist from publishing further defamatory statements, whether through tweets or any other forum. You must also make amends to pay damages acceptable to our client for your libellous publications failure to which we shall proceed to sue you for damages,” said Mr Kilonzo.
Upheld election
Justice Ibrahim was among the judges who upheld the election of Governor Abdi on grounds that his opponent did not question his academic qualifications before the election. The other judges were Jackton Ojwang, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung'u.
Chief Justice David Maraga and Justice Isaac Lenaola dissented.
In the demand letter, the judge stated that a day before the verdict was delivered on February 15, Abdullahi sent him a WhatsApp message that he had heard rumours that the judges had been bribed by the Wajir governor but praised Ibrahim for not being part of the bribe takers.
He stated that he was surprised when the senior counsel took to Twitter after the judgement, claiming that he knew the judges were tired before the ruling and that Justice Ibrahim was compromised to join the majority decision.
