Chief Justice Martha Koome has sparked a standoff with Parliament after questioning MPs’ authority to oversee the Judiciary and the Judicial Service Commission. Koome in a July 7 letter addressed to Speakers Justin Muturi (National Assembly) and Kenneth Lusaka (Senate) directed the Judiciary not to engage any House committees until a meeting is convened to resolve what she termed as micromanagement of the Judiciary. She noted that JSC is independent and not subject to direction or control by any person or authority. Citing a decision on petition No.13 518 of 2013, Judicial Service Commission vs Speaker of the National Assembly and eight others, Koome said the oversight role of the National Assembly has bounds. She cited a case of July 8, 2020 where Chief Registrar Anne Amadi was required to appear before three different committees of the National Assembly and Senate.

Source: The Star July 13, 2021 02:03 UTC