Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua has dropped a petition against Justice Esther Maina which he was set to present today (Thursday).
In a statement from his communications team, DP Gachagua stated that he was in agreement with planned talks between the Executive and Judiciary.
“Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua notes the current national discourse on judicial transparency and application of Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya on the conduct of judges and other judicial officers,” read part of the statement.
The second in command concurred with Chief Justice Martha Koome’s statement that there needs to be accountability within her docket.
“He welcomes the statement by Chief Justice Martha Koome inviting dialogue on the critical issue of accountability of the judiciary, which H.E President William Ruto has embraced,” DP Gachagua added.
He urged Kenyans to support this initiative despite opposition from the Azimio leaders.
To this effect, DP Gachagua declared that he would not proceed with his petition against Justice Esther Maina which was scheduled for presentation this afternoon.
However, he left the door open on the subject, saying he had only suspended the petition not done away with it.
Gachagua made the astonishing announcement on Sunday, January 14 during a church service in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County.
He accused High Court judge Justice Esther Maina of corruption and misconduct for her “biased” verdict against him in a KSh200 million unexplained monies case.
“I will lead by example on Thursday this coming week. I will personally present a petition before CJ Koome against Justice Esther Maina for her removal from the Judiciary for misconduct and corruption.
“She declared my hard-earned wealth as proceeds of crime without giving me an opportunity to be heard,” he was quoted as saying.
He extended his criticism to CJ Koome, questioning how many complaints against corrupt judicial officers she had resolved.
“We would like to ask CJ Koome how many complaints have been filed against judicial officers, how many she has dealt with, and what is the timeline to conclude those petitions she has challenged us to give evidence,” he added.
