BY JOE MODIE
They say that if you hope to remain clean, do not go to wrestle with a pig in the mud. It would, however, appear that Judge Juma Chitembwe, with all his education never took heed of this warning.
Following former Nairobi governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko’s Facebook dossier on the judge, he decided to step into the ring for a brawl with the impeached governor.
So, on Wednesday evening Justice Chitembwe went to KTN studios, where he sought to clear his name following allegations levelled against him by Sonko.
Those who watched the interview with KTN’s Sophia Wanuna – she is a good interviewer – must have been taken aback at the spectacle of a judge of the High Court going on TV to defend himself against graft allegations.
The impression ordinary Kenyans have on judges is that of aloof individuals, who inhabit a universe of their own, where they are answerable to no one; and most importantly, judges are people who have power of life and death over ordinary mortals.
Justice Chitembwe basically authenticated Sonko’s recordings, so now we are pretty sure that it is him in the videos.
This now frees media people who now don’t have to use phrases like ‘a man purported to be Justice Chitembwe’ and unnecessary ‘allegedlies’.
He said that he had seen the videos way back in July and that Sonko had assured him that they would not be circulated to the public.
How naïve can the judge be? Anyone who takes Sonko’s word is not only naïve, but foolish. “I now regret having invited them to my house,” mourned Justice Chitembwe.
From Chitembwe’s interview we now that the recording was done using sunglasses worn by a man who had accompanied Sonko to the judge’s home.
So next time you sit down with someone who insists on wearing funny ‘goggles’, in spite of the weather, ran for the hills.
Another revelation that came out the interview is that Sonko is somehow related to Chitembwe and that Sonko calls the judge mjomba, as Sonko’s aunt is married to Chitembwe’s cousin.
And yet Sonko has so unceremoniously thrown him under the bus. If he can do that to a relative, a judge no less, what chance do other people stand?
Sonko is a Robin Hood type of a politician, but with a difference. For him to succeed as a political leader, Sonko needs the masses, who eat from the palm of his hand.
Thus, his numerous charitable activities are meant to have the masses solidly behind him. This tactic has worked quite well for him, at the ballot, if the votes he got in 2017 are anything to go by.
The question now becomes, once he has political power what does he do with it? To answer this, one might need to know how he got entangled in a land deal in Kwale. Does he go cutting such deals on behalf of the masses, who enthusiastically elected him in Nairobi? Highly doubtful.
That Sonko records any person he deals with is not is longer in doubt. Why does he do it? Let us use Justice Chitembwe’s videos as an illustration.
When he recorded the judge, he knew pretty well that he would use in future.
Sure enough, Justice Chitembwe found himself in a panel that deliberated on Sonko’s appeal seeking to stop the swearing in of Ann Kananu, to replace Sonko as Nairobi governor.
Our hunch is that when the judge came across the videos in July, Sonko basically told him ‘chief, I have the low down (dirt) on you, you better rule in my favour or else…’
Is it any surprise then, that Sonko released the tapes on the day Kananu was being sworn in? In short, Sonko made good his threat.
Justice Chitambwe revealed that his arrest, together with Justice Aggrey Mchelule, in July had everything to do with the Sonko tapes. It thus does not require a nuclear scientist to know who was behind the said arrests. whisper Sonko…
At the time the judges and their peers made a big show of making it look like it was Uhuru Kenyatta and, by extension, the Executive, that was making good their threat of ‘revisiting’ the Judiciary. We now know otherwise.
How many other people has Sonko compromised so that they can keep doing what he wishes? How many more judges are in this loop?
Already, from Sonko’s tapes, we know that Justice Aggrey Mchelule is in Sonko’s cross hairs. That, good people, is just a tip of the iceberg.
If Justice Chitembwe has something to hide – and Sonko knows about it – he should rest assured that the show has just began… Grab your popcorns, good people.
Tomorrow: Sonko’s comeback after Justice Chitembwe went on TV to defend himself.