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Former President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Nelson Havi has moved to court seeking to have a three-judge bench step aside from hearing and determining seven consolidated petitions seeking the removal of all Supreme Court judges.
Through a certificate of urgency filed at the Milimani High Court, Havi wants the current three judges—Charles Kariuki, Lawrence Mugambi, and Justice Bahati Mwamuye—disqualified and a new bench appointed.
He argues that Chief Justice Martha Koome, who appointed the bench to hear the matters, is among the judges he is seeking to remove from office, citing conflict of interest and lack of impartiality.
“I seek Justices Kariuki, Mugambi, and Mwamuye to hereby recuse themselves from further hearing the seven consolidated petitions herein,” lawyer Havi states in his application.
Further, Havi states that it is unconstitutional for CJ Koome, who is also a petitioner in one of the consolidated matters, to assign the same three judges to hear her own petition and those of her fellow Supreme Court judges.
“The Chief Justice, being a petitioner in one of the matters, is precluded by law from assigning judges of the High Court to hear petitions in which she is directly involved,” lawyer Havi states.
Havi now wants the matters referred to the Deputy Chief Justice, Justice Philomena Mbete Mwilu, and that she be tasked with appointing a fresh bench that excludes the current trio of judges from hearing Koome’s petition.
“Nairobi Constitution Petition Number E083 of 2025 be hereby forwarded to the Chief Justice to delegate to the Deputy Chief Justice the function of assigning an uneven number of Judges of the High Court (excluding Honourable Mr. Charles Kariuki, Honourable Mr. Justice Lawrence Mugambi and Honourable Justice Bahati Mwamuye) to hear and determine the seven petitions.”
He also wants a separate and fresh bench constituted by CJ Koome to determine petitions filed by six other judges of the Supreme Court, including her deputy CJ Mwilu, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, Isaac Lenaola, and William Ouko.
The suit stems from February 20, 2025, when Chief Justice Koome, her deputy Mwilu, and five judges of the Supreme Court appeared before the High Court in Nairobi challenging the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) power and process to handle the petitions for their removal from office.
Justices Kariuki, Mugambi, and Mwamuye issued conservatory orders in all seven related matters, restraining the JSC from considering the removal petitions.
According to Havi, the conservatory orders by the three judges display impartiality in the consideration of these petitions.
He also noted that the seriousness of the matter requires a broader and more diverse bench.
“The weight of the claims required an expanded bench of experienced five or seven judges of diverse philosophies and manifesting the face of Kenya, not to forget gender balance,” lawyer Havi stated.
The bench directed all parties to agree on timelines for filing and serving pleadings.
Meanwhile, DCJ Mwilu, through lawyer Andrew Musangi, urged the court to allow parties an open court hearing to enable them to highlight their submissions before the court can render a ruling on the recusal application.
Her request was granted by the bench.
