Suspended judge is a liar, lawyer tells tribunal

High Court judge Joseph Mutava

A senior counsel has accused suspended High Court judge Joseph Mutava of engaging in outright lies to “justify his illegal orders” in a suit.

Lawyer Fred Ngatia yesterday told the five-member tribunal investigating the conduct of Mutava that the judge had “manufactured a statement” and attributed it to him so as to justify his orders that reinstated the board of directors of East African Portland Cement (EAPCC) in 2012.

The advocate said Mutava had wrongly cited him, claiming the State had 48.3 per cent shareholding at Portland Cement, implying that the firm was not a State corporation thus the Government could not interfere with its operations.

Mr Ngatia said the fact of the matter was that State shareholding was at 52.3 per cent, thus placing the company under the control of the Government, and particularly the Industrialisation minister.

The then Industrialisation Minister Amason Kingi had sent the firm’s managing director and the entire board on a compulsory leave pending investigations over a dubious Sh1 billion tender. But on January 9, 2012, Mutava reinstated the officials pending hearing of their suspension.

The embattled judge had also directed that Mr Kingi stop meddling with operations of the firm since it was not a State corporation.

Ngatia said the assertions were founded on a falsehood; that National Social Security Fund Building (NSSF) transferred 4 per cent of its shares to staff pension scheme.

The advocate further accused the judge of lying to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that he (Ngatia) had stormed into his office demanding favourable ruling over the matter.

Mutava had told JSC that Ngatia had invoked the minister’s name in an attempt to force him to rescind his orders.

Ngatia told the tribunal that he had withdrawn his complaint against the judge after being prevailed upon by “people in Government” but reconsidered his decision because of the untrue statement made by the judge while appearing before the JSC, which recommended the formation of the tribunal.

The tribunal adjourned until July 4 to give the defence time to prepare.