Saturday, August 17, 2013

Mutunga to decide Shollei’s fate Monday

PHOTO | FILE CJ Willy Mutunga (second right), Chief Registrar Gladys Shollei (left) and other Judiciary officials during a tour of the Family Division Registry at the Milimani Law Courts in 2012. NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• Dr Willy Mutunga acknowledged receipt of a resolution on Ms Shollei, but said he was deferring communicating the decision saying he needed to be fully briefed.
• Another issue before the JSC concerned the rental of three premises for judges and court staff and relationship with some judges, who consider her authoritarian.
• Supporters of Ms Shollei attribute the attack on her to anti-reform forces in the Judiciary which want to take control of the procurement and employment functions she has reorganised since taking charge.

By Walter MenyaMore by this Author

The fate of the Judiciary Chief Registrar Gladys Shollei will be known Monday after the Chief Justice deferred making public a decision made by the Judicial Service Commission on Saturday.

However, sources said a JSC meeting held in Mombasa Saturday resolved to send Ms Shollei on forced leave to clear the way for investigations into complaints over her running of the Judiciary.

The Commission is the top governing body of Kenya’s judicial system.

The allegations against Ms Shollei, who is the accounting officer of the Judiciary and secretary to JSC, come as the Judiciary is undergoing radical reforms, of which she is the main driver.

Some of the changes have involved massive infrastructural spending while others have adversely affected individual judicial officers.

Questions have been raised at the Judicial Service Commission over procurement decisions worth Sh5 billion, among other issues which were discussed by the Judiciary’s top governing body meeting in Mombasa.

In a statement sent to media houses, Dr Willy Mutunga acknowledged receipt of a resolution on Ms Shollei, but said he was deferring communicating the decision saying he needed to be fully briefed.

The statement noted that the Chief Justice, who chairs the JSC, did not attend the Mombasa meeting as he was “hosting Prof Ali Mazrui and Prof Robert Martin in Nairobi for a series of engagements with the public, the universities and the judges”.

Equally, the statement added that Ms Shollei, who was the subject of the Mombasa meeting, has been out of country on official duty since August 5, 2013.

“The Chief Justice has subsequently convened a full JSC meeting on Monday, August 19, 2013 to receive a full briefing on this resolution,” the statement added.

According to sources close to the JSC, questions have been raised within the Commission over Mrs Shollei’s failure to arrange for an audit of the construction of the Milimani Law Courts buildings, which Dr Mutunga had described two years ago as “the Goldenberg” of the Judiciary. It is alleged that the project, which was implemented before Ms Sollei and Dr Mutunga came to office, was riddled with massive financial abuse and the buildings shoddily done.

Another issue before the JSC concerned the rental of three premises for judges and court staff and relationship with some judges, who consider her authoritarian.

Early in the day, however, Ms Shollei had released a statement denying the allegations and blaming “certain individuals and corporations who have benefitted from such vices and have resorted to attempts to undermine the Judiciary’s progressive reforms.”

She also denied that she was the subject of discussion by the JSC or that the team was reviewing the numerous projects undertaken by the Judiciary, as reported in The Saturday Nation. “The agenda of the retreat is to deliberate on the workings of the Commission,” she said.

While acknowledging that she was the constitutional accounting officer who offered overall supervision, Ms Shollei said all procurement and expenditure went through rigorous approval checks and did not reside in one office.

Supporters of Ms Shollei attribute the attack on her to anti-reform forces in the Judiciary which want to take control of the procurement and employment functions she has reorganised since taking charge.

They also said Ms Shollei did not sit in the tender committees which approved the various multi-million-shilling purchases, which have been questioned at the JSC