A dispute over per diem allowances for a recent trip to Cambodia may have soured relations between suspended Chief Registrar of Judiciary Gladys Boss Shollei and several members of the Judicial Service Commission. The information emerged as the JSC yesterday said it was seeking an out of court agreement with Shollei who is challenging the probe into her alleged malpractice. A JSC meeting attended by four commissioners on May 15 requested Shollei to double the per diem for members on a study tour of Cambodia. Commissioners Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Prof Christine Mango, Emily Ominde and Dr Smokin Wanjala said their normal per diem rate was “inadequate and may occasion hardship to commissioners.” Shollei refused to acquiesce and said she would only pay the standard Sh40,500 daily allowance for officials travelling to Cambodia. The JSC members normally receive a daily allowance of Sh80,000 for every session they attend. At a full meeting of the JSC held on May 10, Shollei pleaded with commissioners to postpone further intended study tours to Bosnia and the USA. The meeting was chaired by Wanjala and attended by Ominde, Ahmednasir, Shollei, Florence Mwangangi, Rev Sam Kobia, Attorney General Githu Muigai and Justice Mohammed Warsame. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Prof Mango, Margaret Kobia and Justice Isaac Lenaola did not attend. The JSC rescheduled the Bosnia trip until after August and the North American trip until after interviews to recruit researchers. Other minutes also show that the JSC approved all the projects now cited in the ongoing investigations started after Shollei’s suspension. On May 10, the JSC approved the purchase of the CJ’s house. On January 21 it approved the leasing of offices at Elgon Place on Upper Hill for the Court of Appeal as well as the lease of Rahimtullah Building. The six year JSC plan was to rent the Elgon Place office premises in the first year, rent and acquire the land in the second year, rent and construct on the third, fourth and fifth year and rent and buy furniture in the sixth year. The total cost was Sh500 million. On January 21, a full JSC meeting chaired by Mutunga rescinded an earlier decision of December 21, 2012 stopping the Elgon leasing “having been satisfied that all legal requirements had been adhered to.” However the issue of the Elgon lease reappeared before the JSC’s finance committee on May 15 meeting through an agenda amendment by chairman Ahmednasir. The JSC is now seeking a settlement with Shollei over her petition. Lawyers Paul Muite for the JSC and Issa Mansour for Ahmednassir requested Justice David Majanja to have the case mentioned on Friday so that the parties could conclude the discussions and reach a consensus. Justice Majanja agreed to move the case to Friday and extended the orders barring the JSC from probing Shollei. Kibera Chief Magistrate Emily Ominde, represented by lawyer Kioko Kilukumi, and Appellate Judge Mohammed Warsame, represented by lawyer Steven Mwenesi, support the request. Shollei through her lawyer Donald Kipkorir accused the JSC of trying to prosecute her through an article in the Sunday Nation without presenting the charges against her. Last Thursday, Shollei obtained orders barring the JSC from commencing disciplinary proceedings against her. “The said decision was influenced by Emily Ominde, Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Mohammed Warsame who have actual, imputed and apparent bias,” she argued. In their replying affidavit, the JSC and the three commissioners said that the petition was wrongly filed in court. The JSC on August 12 resolved to send Shollei on compulsory leave and for two committees to probe allegations against her. “Being sent on compulsory leave to facilitate an inquiry is not in itself a disciplinary process,” the JSC stated yesterday. “The petition is premature and the reference to disciplinary proceedings being undertaken against the Chief Registrar is incorrect,” they added. They said Shollei is still presumed innocent.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 08:28:09 +0000
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