JSC finds Supreme Court Judge Phillip Tunoi culpable of sh200m bribery claim

A JSC committee has found Supreme Court Judge Philip Tunoi culpable of the sh200m bribe involving Nairobi Governor Evan Kidero.

Too bad for the Supreme Court. It has been tainted beyond cleanup.

A special Judicial Service Commission (JSC) committee has been formed to investigate bribery allegations against Supreme Court judge Phillip Tunoi.

The six-member committee chaired by Prof Margaret Kobia  probed into allegations for nine days.

This followed allegations that Tunoi received a sum of Sh200 million as an inducement from Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero to rule in his favour at an election petition filed by Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu in 2014.

Supreme Court Judge Tunoi  fought bribery claims against him, saying succession wars in the Judiciary were fueling the allegations. He added that he was ready to quit the bench if his accusers provided evidence of bribery.

He pointed at bad blood between old judges and magistrates serving in the Judiciary and the new ones, who joined the rank and file under the new Constitution, and claimed that they were being discriminated against.

Justice Tunoi has served in the Judiciary for the last 29-and-a-half years. He rose from a High Court judge in May 1987 before his elevation to the Court of Appeal and appointment to the Supreme Court in 2011.