Retired Air Force officer petitions JSC to oust CJ Koome

Chief Justice Martha Koome during a past event. [File, Standard]

A retired Kenya Air Force officer, Captain (Rtd) Jammies Nyongesa Wafubwa has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) seeking the removal of Chief Justice Martha Koome, over alleged incompetence and gross misconduct..

In the petition, Captain Wafubwa accuses the Chief Justice of, among other things, changing the nature of court proceedings from public to private without public participation and allegedly using administrative powers to block or delay his pending appeals.

“Lady Honourable Justice Martha Koome as the head of the Judiciary changed the constitutional requirements of public courts to private courts without any public participation,” reads part of the petition filed under Article 168(1) and (2) of the Constitution, which provides grounds for the removal of a judge from office.

Wafubwa claims that by making court hearings less accessible to the public, both he and other citizens have been denied the right to monitor court processes and outcomes.

“The public and myself are denied the right to monitor the court processes including the decisions being determined, a move that allowed corruption to thrive in the legal processes in Kenya,” he says.

He says the alleged actions by the Chief Justice have denied him justice in several matters pending before the Court of Appeal, including Nairobi Civil Appeal No. E595 of 2024, Kisumu Civil Appeal No. E243 of 2023, and Nairobi Civil Appeal (Application) No. 102 of 2013.

In one of the cases, Wafubwa claims that despite his appeal being unopposed, the Chief Justice refused to enter the unopposed grounds to pave the way for the military reserves to take up their positions. He terms this action gross incompetence.

He also claims that Koome’s administrative policies have been used to block the disposal of his Kisumu appeal over his farm in Kimilili, Bungoma County, and that one of his cases has been assigned to several different judges without a verdict being delivered. 

The retired pilot, who joined the military in 1978 and was retired in 1993, has been engaged in protracted legal battles over what he terms a wrongful retirement, improper computation of his benefits, and mishandling of his appeals.

In his nine-page petition, Wafubwa claims that during previous Chief Justices’ tenures, appeals were determined within six months, and in some cases within 90 days.

“When Hon. Madam Koome CJ was appointed in 2021, things did not go south only, but dived to gender considerations,” he claims.

“This withholding of justice on matters under review is deliberate, aimed at delaying until I die for justice to be delivered to my corpse.”

Wafubwa urges the JSC to conduct “thorough and rigorous investigations” into the Chief Justice’s conduct, alleging her leadership may serve “a hidden master” intent on destabilising the Judiciary.

“The commission should order her to face a tribunal with the aim of removing her from the office of Chief Justice,” he seeks

The petition was formally received by the JSC on September 16.