Removal of a judge is a constitutional matter – Kindiki

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has trashed claims linking the government to petitions seeking to remove from office high-ranking judges.

In a statement on Monday, Kindiki said the process of removing a judge from office is a constitutional one and should therefore not be politicized.

He went on to say that any person who accuses a judge must use constitutional or legal mechanisms available instead of throwing a tribal card in a manner that trivializes the weight issues raised.

“Removal of a judge from office is purely a constitutional matter and not a political or ethnic issue. Accusers and defenders of judges must use constitutional and legal arguments to state their positions rather than trivializing such a weighty legal matter by bringing ethnicity into the equation. Who defends the judges who may be innocent but do not have ethnic godfathers?” Kindiki posed.

His remarks come a day after Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua condemned petitions seeking to remove from office CJ Martha Koome.

Speaking at AIPCA St. Joseph's church in Antubetwe-Kiongo Ward in Igembe North, Meru County, on Sunday, Gachagua demanded that the CJ should be left to discharge her mandate.

The former DP said that should she be removed from office, he will call for protests against the government in the event CJ Koome is removed from office.

“This woman (Koome) is being fought because she has refused to be a 'yes man'," Gachagua said.

“If Martha Koome is pushed out I will call for protests,” Gachagua said.

Thirteen lawyers from the firm of Ahmednasir Abdullahi Advocates LLP have petitioned the Judicial Service Commission for the removal of Chief Justice Martha Koome and six other judges of the Supreme Court. 

The lawyers are Asli Osman Mahamud, Peter Gichuru, Irene Koech, Esther Wanga, Cohen Amanya, Khadijah Ali, Elizabeth Mungai, Tony Towett, Mohamed Abdi, Muthoni Gatere, Omar Mwarora, Hilda Ndulu and Jemimah Masudi. 

On February 21, 2025, Chief Justice Martha Koome successfully petitioned the High Court to suspend any further proceedings pending at the Judicial Service Commission that are related to petitions calling for her removal from office.

In court documents, filed before the Milimani Law Courts, Koome argues that the JSC lacks the authority and the constitutional mandate to entertain any such claims against her, or any judges of the Supreme Court.