Former chief justice David Kenani Maraga was on Friday dealt a blow after the court of appeal threw out his appeal which sought to suspend Kiambu Principal magistrate Bryan Khaemba.
The three judge bench while overturning the directive by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and David Maraga ruled that Justice Khaemba be reinstated with immediate effect.
The verdict meant that the suspended judge gets back all the full benefits he never received after David Maraga found him guilty and suspended him on grounds of gross misconduct on June 19, 2019.
Justices Pauline Nyamweya, Asike Makhandia and Sankale Ole Kantai heard that Bryana Khaemba was suspended for granting former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu an anticipatory bail in his 588 million Kenya shillings.
“This Court finds that the impugned disciplinary process, having been irregular and illegal ab initio, meant there were no valid proceedings that could be remitted back to the Appellants for consideration,” the COA bench ruled.
The Magistrate gave orders on May 23, 2019, to the Director of Public Prosecutions not to arrest and charge Ferdinand Waititu.
According to a local publication, the Kiambu Principal Magistrate had previously been transferred to the Thika Law Courts, but Maraga cancelled the shift and ordered him to hand over all government property that was in his possession.
“While on suspension, you shall receive nil salary. Your transfer to Thika Law Courts is hereby cancelled. You are therefore required to report to the Chief Magistrate, Kiambu Law Courts, every Friday.
“You were required to explain why in the morning of May 23, whereas you had reported to be unwell and allowed to be away from duty, thus necessitating the adjournment of all matters listed before you on that day, you went to court and handled only one matter that had not been allocated to or listed before you,” the CJ stated at the time.
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