Court grants Koome’s legal team 6 days to amend petitions challenging her ouster
The Nairobi High Court has given Chief Justice Martha Koome and Supreme Court Judges one week to amend petitions seeking to remove them from office.
This is after the CJ and Supreme Court Judges’ legal team urged the court to grant them time to add details left out in the petition.
In the directions issued on Friday, May 16, 2025, by a three-judge bench led by the presiding Judge Charles Kariuki, Judge Lawrence Mugambi and Bahati Mwamuye, the court granted leave for amendment and filing of the petitions.
“The court grants leave to file and serve amended petitions and shall do so by close of business May 21, 2025,” the three-judge bench directed.
Hard copies
Further, they also ordered all the parties to serve the court with five hard copies of the same.
All the parties were also ordered to file and serve responses by the close of business on May 28, 2025.
Notably, they stated that in case there is a need for a rejoinder, it should be filed and served by close of business June 3, 2025.
On April 30, 2025, Chief Justice Martha Koome appointed a three-judge bench led by Justice Charles Kariuki to hear consolidated petitions filed before the JSC challenging her and all other Supreme Court Judges from office.
The petitions were filed by CJ Koome, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, Justice Mohamed Khadhar Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Susanna Ndung’u, Isaac Lenaola and Justice William Ouko, barring their removal from office.
High Court Deputy Registrar Emmie Chelule confirmed on May 6, 2025, that CJ Koome had appointed a three-bench to hear petitions filed to bar their ouster.
Weighty issues
“The matter is coming up before me to confirm whether the empanelment has been done by the Chief Justice Koome. I do confirm that the bench was empanelled on April 30, 2025, and am informed that all the other directions will be sent to parties on email,” Deputy Registrar Emmie Chelule directed.
Notably, Chelule stated that directions of the same will be sent to all parties involved through email.
The appointment of the three judges comes after Justice Mugambi directed that the file be taken to the Chief Justice Koome for the appointment of the bench to hear their petitions.
In his ruling, Mugambi stated that petitions were weighty and required to be heard by more than one judge.
“I find all the consolidated petitions herein raise serious constitutional issues to be determined by a bench. I therefore order the transmission of the file to the Chief Justice for empanelment of an uneven bench of judges,” Justice Mugambi directed.
Further, he stated that Chief Justice Koome remains the one mandated to empanel a bench under Article 165(4) even though he is among the petitioners in the case.
Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, lawyer Nelson Havi, former Member of Parliament Raphael Tuju and his children, the JSC and other interested parties opposed Mugambi’s ruling, stating that it raised concerns on conflict of interest.
They argued that the fact that Koome is mandated to appoint the three-judge bench when she is among the petitioners.
However, Justice Mugambi upheld his decision that CJ Koome must appoint the bench as per the constitution, which states that such a matter shall be heard by an uneven number of judges being not less than three, assigned by the Chief Justice
