Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu. FILE PHOTO | NMG
A loan account at a
troubled bank and a recalled collateral appear to be part of a recipe
that investigative agencies wanted to start cooking bitter trouble for
one of the country’s top judges.
Lady Justice Philomena
Mbete Mwilu, Kenya’s deputy chief Justice and the subject of legal high
drama this week, has denied the allegations, noting that dragging her
into court for a civil water is malicious.
But her
trial at the lower court had Kenyans talking this week, even after it
was put on hold by High Court judge Richard Mwita following her
application.
It is a case that promises to be a litmus
test for a chequered career spanning three decades and which has placed
her just one step away from the apex of Kenya’s judiciary.
Ms
Mwilu, who was first admitted as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya
in 1984, took over as Deputy Chief Justice on October 28, 2016.
She practised in various private law firms for the first seven years of her career before joining the corporate world.
Ms
Mwilu served as the deputy chairperson of the Energy Tribunal and later
as director on the board of the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company,
among other assignments.
After a fruitful sojourn in
the corporate world, she was appointed a puisne judge in 2007. Within
the judiciary, she served in the Commercial Division of the High Court
in Nairobi and later the High Court in Eldoret.
She returned to Nairobi where she served at the Criminal
Division and later headed the Environment and Land Division of the High
Court.
Justice Mwilu was in November, 2012, elevated to
the Court of Appeal where she served until her appointment as the
Deputy Chief Justice.
Last year in May, she was elected by Supreme Court judges to represent them in the Judicial Service Commission.
She
also serves as the judiciary Ombudsman and the chair of the
Implementation Monitoring Committee of the Sustaining Judiciary
Transformation (SJT): A Service Delivery Agenda 2017 – 2021, the
Honourable Chief Justice’s five year strategic blueprint for the
institution.
“She has passionately stood up as a
role-model for the girl child and has actively mentored many girls and
boys in secondary schools across the Republic of Kenya by visiting their
institutions and giving much needed guidance,” reads her profile on the
judiciary website.
It also paints a picture of a God-fearing servant who participates actively in church activities.
But the career she built over the years is under threat from the charges facing her.
When
she arrived in court on Tuesday as a suspect, she cut a pensive figure.
She watched as lawyers, numbering over 30, defended her. Here was a
judge serving on the bench of the most senior court fighting to save
herself before a magistrate’s court.
The counsel
successfully fought to secure her freedom for that night and the
following day they got an order from the High Court suspending the
trial, pending hearing of the case she filed at the High Court.
She
is accused of failing to pay taxes and unlawfully obtaining securities
charged at the Imperial Bank by “pretending that she would provide an
alternative security.”
But she denies any wrongdoing, noting that the issues raised are purely customer-client matter and of civil nature not criminal.
Her
lawyers asked why the DPP was using the Director of Criminal
Investigations instead of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission
which has the legal mandate to investigate such cases.
But
even as she fights in court, this development is viewed through
different lenses. Justice Mwilu was among the judges who nullified the
election of President Uhuru Kenyatta last year and ordered a fresh poll.
Shortly
after the nullification of his victory, President Kenyatta declared he
would “revisit the Judiciary” after the presidential elections which he
won as the main opposition party boycotted.
But the
DPP, Mr Noordin Hajji, when asked if he was being used to revisit the
issue by a journalist, said he was independent and not acting on
instructions from any other person or institutions.
It
would be a painful ending of a career for the judge if she is removed
from office after 34 years in the field of law, 12 of which she has
worked as a judge.
Article 168 of the constitution
spells out the process of removing a judge from office, with some of the
grounds spelled out being inability to perform functions, breach of a
code of conduct, bankruptcy, incompetence, gross misconduct or
misbehavior.
JSC can initiate removal on its own motion
or on a petition by any other person. It can send the petition to the
President if it satisfied that it discloses enough grounds.
The
President shall within 14 days after receiving the petition suspend the
judge from office and appoint a tribunal which will make its
recommendations after investigations.
The judge is entitled to half salary until removal from or reinstatement.
Justice
Mwilu becomes the first top judicial officer after the new constitution
was enacted to face graft charges. But at this point, opinion is
divided on the issue. She remains innocent until proven guilty.
But
it is clear she is not ready to allow this to derail her otherwise
impeccable career. Only time will tell if she will succeed or not.
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