I saw graft whistleblower in Tunoi office, says court clerk

The Judiciary Ombudsman Tuesday presented to the Sharad Rao tribunal two witnesses said to have met former journalist Geoffrey Kiplagat in suspended Supreme Court judge Philip Tunoi’s office.

Kennedy Bidali said the two witnesses could confirm that Mr Kiplagat visited the judge’s office on more than one occasion – contradicting last week’s evidence by Justice Tunoi’s secretary that she had never seen the former journalist in the judge’s chambers.

One of the witnesses was a law clerk attending to both Justice Tunoi and Supreme Court Judge Njoki Ndung’u for whom he did legal research on the various cases, including the election petition in question.

Mr Bidali, however, declined to identify the second new witness he promised to name once the tribunal went into a camera session, citing the need to protect the witness’ identity.

“The witnesses made initial contact on the telephone and I finally convinced them to write statements on May 25,” he told the tribunal.

The tribunal is hearing allegations that Justice Tunoi received a Sh200 million bribe to influence the outcome of an election petition in favour of Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero.

The petition had been filed by Ferdinard Waititu, the Kabete MP, who lost to Dr Kidero in the 2013 gubernatorial election. Mr Bidali had been summoned to testify before the tribunal a week ago, but failed to do so.

Judiciary chief registrar Anne Amadi wrote to the tribunal explaining that he had been held up at a magistrate’s workshop in Mombasa and asked that he appears on an alternative date.

Mr Bidali said the law clerk he identified as Shem Odek had met Mr Kiplagat on several occasions in the common area of Justice Tunoi’s chambers, which he shares with Justice Ndung’u.

In one particular incident, Mr Bidali recalled from the clerk’s testimony that he had been summoned to the judge’s chambers where he met “a shabbily dressed”

READ: Tunoi lawyer pokes holes in Sh200m bribery affidavit

Kiplagat in the common area and joked about it with Justice Ndungu’s secretary, Ms Serah Maina.

Ms Maina along with Ms Sophia Nyai, Justice Tunoi’s secretary, had earlier appeared before the tribunal and testified that Mr Kiplagat had never visited the judge’s office.

In his affidavit, Mr Kiplagat claimed he had been to Justice Tunoi’s office at least 10 times in 2014, and that he had been served tea at the reception.

Ms Nyai said she did not keep a record of visitors who asked to see Justice Tunoi and had neither served Mr Kiplagat any tea.

“His testimony confirmed what had earlier been stated that Mr Kiplagat had been introduced to the Judiciary staff as Justice Tunoi’s farm manager and with instructions that he be allowed full access to the judge’s office any time he visited,” said Mr Bidali.

The ombudsman recalled his investigations into the matter and how from the onset he began “building a case that would last even if Mr Kiplagat was to later recant his statement.”

This involved taking video and audio recordings of all interactions he made with the former journalist, including his travels to Eldoret.

Mr Bidali told the tribunal that he visited the two parcels of land the judge is alleged to have bought with the proceeds of the bribery from one farmer and the other from former cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott.

He confirmed that the statement presented to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) indicating that Mr Kiplagat and Justice Tunoi had been in contact was indeed from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), even though it had not been signed and dated.

“I sought confirmation of the ownership of the report when the matter was at the JSC and the subsequent report, signed and dated, confirmed the constant communication of the four numbers we had inquired about,” he said.

Justice Tunoi, through his lawyer Fred Nagtia, objected to introduction of the “new evidence procured just a week earlier” , arguing that he was yet to be served with the said statements.

Mr Ngatia argued that the tribunal should not continue to admit new evidence in dealing with the matters presented by the JSC.

Mr Rao, the tribunal chairman, however, noted that tribunal was not confined to what the JSC had presented as its case against the judge.

“If something was to come up regarding the matter then it is upon us to look into it,” he said.

Justice Tunoi will have an opportunity to cross examine the ombudsman when the tribunal resumes its hearings at Anniversary Towers on Thursday.