KENYA: Kenya's higher courts were paralysed yesterday after half the country's senior judges were suspended amid wide-ranging corruption allegations. Declan Walsh reports from Nairobi
The unprecedented purge was caused by a report accusing the judges of accepting cash, sexual favours and gifts such as building material and goats in return for partisan judgements.
President Mwai Kibaki issued the suspension orders and convened two tribunals of inquiry to hear the bribery allegations.
It was seen as a bold move for the ageing President, who was elected on a corruption-busting ticket last December but has been recently criticised for failing to deliver on his promise.
As the courts ground to a halt, the suspended judges cleared out their chambers. Some wept before reporters and pleaded their innocence, while others defiantly vowed to fight the allegations to the end.
Mr Justice Aaron Ringera's corruption report detailed a litany of colourful testimony against six of the 11 Appeal Court judges and 17 of 36 High Court judges.
One High Court judge allegedly wrote two judgments on a case, then accepted bids from rival litigants to determine which one to use. Another privately advised a lawyer appearing before him, then charged a hefty "consultation fee".
A fistfight once broke out between two judges over who should hear a case involving millions of euros. It was common, the report found, for judges to demand a 10 to 30 per cent cut of the award in such cases.
Others were accused of stealing exhibits, drinking and having sexual relations with court prosecutors, using prison labour for private work and encouraging litigants to deliver construction materials for their personal building projects.
One judge in the western town of Kisumu was so notoriously venal he was informally known as "the Cashbox of Kisumu".
The reforms are widely seen as long overdue. The slogan of protesting lawyers last year was "Why bother hiring a lawyer when you can buy a judge?" Shortly after the new government came to power the Chief Justice, Mr Bernard Chunga, was forced to resign after a tribunal was convened to investigate his conduct.
According to a "league table" drawn up by Mr Justice Ringera, an Appeal Court judge could be pocketed for €165,000, a High Court judge for €550 and a magistrate for as little as €44.
On the criminal side, murder convictions could be overturned for up to €11,000.
The report also carried allegations of incompetence, such as judges hearing cases drunk, or turning up in court wearing a T-shirt and trainers.
Lawyers, litigants, human rights and church groups have brought the charges.
The evidence against one Appeal Court judge includes a secret videotape of him receiving a large bribe in Nairobi's Hilton Hotel.
The reforms are seen as essential to restoring investor confidence in Kenya, whose once-strong economy has crumbled in recent years. However, they have also attracted some criticism.
In the Nairobi court precinct yesterday, several lawyers welcomed the purge.
"We need a total overhaul, radical surgery. There are no two ways about it," said Mr Rumba Kinuthia, a human rights lawyer who said he had suffered discrimination for refusing to pay bribes.
However, opposition MPs said the judges were being unfairly persecuted because President Moi had appointed them.
Critics noted that the "list of shame" included Mr Justice Richard Kwach, author of Kenya's first report on judicial corruption published five years ago.