Top Kenyan judge Phillip Tunoi probed over '$2m bribe' to rule in favour of Nairobi Governor

Supreme Court judge Phillip Tunoi is under judicial investigation for allegedly accepting $2 million, or £ 1.4 million, bribe. Tunoi is accused of taking the money to rule in favor of Nairobi governor, Dr. Evans Kidero, whose election was challenged by Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu in 2014.

BBC wrote that Tunoi denied that he received money to rule in favor of Kidero. The Governor, who won in March 2013, also denied he gave bribe money to the judge. Meanwhile, both prominent personalities denied they met the person who is accused of facilitating the bribe.

"I have never taken a bribe in my life; such allegations have never been made against me. The accusations are being used to malign my service to the Judiciary," said Tunoi in a report by the Daily Nation. The judge also denied ever meeting the Governor, saying, "I have never met Kidero physically nor have I spoken to him directly. I have only seen him on television."

According to the Standard Media, the probe will be carried out by a six-member committee headed by Prof Margaret Kobia. They will submit their findings to the commission after seven days. Tunoi claimed that the bribery issue slapped against him are brought by the fierce Judiciary succession wars. He is so confident that there is no truth to this claim, saying he would step down from the bench if proven that he did take the bribe.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga ordered the probe into the bribe allegation by Geoffrey Kiplagat. However, Tunoi said Kiplagat is just being used by the judges in the lower courts to get him off his position.

Tunoi accused the feud between old judges and magistrates who are serving in the old and new Judiciary, who are now part of the lower level of the totem pole, claiming that they are being discriminated. The judge has been in the Judiciary for 30 months. He became a High Court judge in 1987 and reached the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in 2011.

Tags

Kenya, judge, Phillip Tunoi, $2m bribe, Nairobi, Supreme Court, Senate Judiciary Committee

© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.