Kidero grilled by special JSC team over Sh200m bribe

Nairobi governor Evans Kidero. PHOTO | FILE 

By SANDRA CHAO-BLASTO, schao@ke.nationmedia.com

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero Tuesday faced a special committee of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which is investigating claims that he bribed a Supreme Court judge to get a favourable ruling in his election petition.

The governor appeared before the JSC team for about 15 minutes compared to Justice Philip Tunoi who was grilled by the committee for two hours in the presence of his lawyers on Monday.

He maintained that he neither knew the Supreme Court judge nor lawyer Katwa Kigen who had also been adversely mentioned in the complainant’s affidavit.

Mr Kidero while addressing the media also threatened to take legal action against Nairobi-based lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi for linking him to the alleged Sh200 million bribery scandal.

He claimed that the senior counsel’s claims that the alleged bribe was actually Sh300 million and not Sh200 million was motivated by personal vendetta after he failed to hire him as a part of his legal team.

Mr Kidero claims that Mr Abdullahi had sought to represent him at the Supreme Court when his rival in the last General Election Ferdinand Waititu filed the election petition, but he turned him down when he demanded an upfront of payment of Sh25 million for the representation.

“He approached me and said he wanted to represent me. I asked him why he said I had a strong case but he wanted a lot of money in advance. Since I had a very competent team there was no need for me to pay him,” the governor told journalists, adding that it was this failed meeting that saw the senior counsel represent his opponent, Mr Waititu.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga formed a six-member special committee of the JSC, headed by Prof Margaret Kobia to inquire into the allegations made by Geoffrey Kiplagat who claims that he acted as a go-between to have judgment delivered in favour of the governor.

Mr Kidero also threatened to take legal action against the whistle blower for linking him to the alleged corruption.

In an affidavit filed with the special JSC committee Mr Justice Tunoi denied the allegations terming them as fiction, though he confirmed having known Mr Kiplagat as hailing from the same home town.

The bribery saga continues to draw in more members of the legal counsel.

On Monday, for instance, Mr Justice Tunoi claimed that lawyer Issa Mansur commissioned Mr Kiplagat’s affidavit yet he is known to be actively engaged by the JSC.

Mr Kigen and Mr Mansur testified before the committee that is expected to conclude its sittings Wednesday and submit a report to the JSC on Wednesday.

An activist, Brian Kipkorir, has moved to the High Court seeking to have the inquiry by the special committee stopped on grounds that the judges’ employer was victimising Mr Justice Tunoi at the expense of other Supreme Court judges also accused of misconduct.

Justice Mumbi Ngugi declined to issue a warrant stopping the investigations, saying no urgency had been proved in the matter.