Kenya’s Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu has been freed after her earlier arrest for engaging in corrupt dealings.
She appeared in court on Tuesday charged for abusing her office and evading tax. Mwilu will re-appear in court on Wednesday.
Justice Mwilu’s arrest was ordered by Kenya’s Supreme Court. The court accused her of abuse of office for personal gain and tax evasion.
She is the most high-profile judicial official to be arrested as part of ongoing crackdown on corruption by state prosecutors.
Kenya’s top prosecutor, Noordin Mohamed Haji told reporters that Mwilu abused her office for personal gain, undermining public integrity in the judiciary.
“There can be no justice if lawyers, prosecutors, magistrates, judges and investigators use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the Kenyan people.
I believe that judges in a democracy such as ours must be totally free to exercise their judgment in a societal environment that supports and protects them. Indeed, the precepts and principles of the constitution must be our guide at all times,” Haji said.
Deputy CJ Mwilu has been released on a Ksh 5 million personal bond and been ordered to appear in court tomorrow at 9am together with her co-accused Stanley Muluvi. Watch our subsequent bulletins at 7 & 9pm for more on this and other developing stories. pic.twitter.com/D96JNs7UNw
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) August 28, 2018
Justice Mwilu was part of a panel of judges that annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s election victory last year.
That panel ordered fresh elections which President Kenyatta won eventually after the opposition boycotted the polls.
Source: Africafeeds.com