KENYA
The Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya has been granted bail of five million shillings ($A68,000) on charges of abuse of office and tax evasion.
The Court allowed Philomena Mwilu (pictured) to be released on a personal bond because she appeared in court after official working hours in Kenya and the banks were closed, court officials explained.
Justice Mwilu was arrested at the Supreme Court. A police spokesman said it was alleged she evaded taxes and used her office for personal gain.
Justice Mwilu is the highest-profile official to be apprehended in a continuing Government crackdown on corruption.
She made headlines last year when her driver was shot days before a Supreme Court ruling on whether a re-run of the country’s presidential election should be allowed to go ahead.
As a result, Justice Mwilu did not attend the hearing and the lack of a quorum on the bench meant the election re-run went ahead unchallenged.
The Court’s annulment of the initial poll angered President Uhuru Kenyatta who pledged at the time to “fix the judiciary”.
However, Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji said the decision to prosecute Justice Mwilu had been taken independently and was not due to political interference.
Nairobi, 29 August, 2018
