Judiciary maintains Ahmednasir's 'jurispesa' claim is baseless

The Judiciary now says Ahmednasir Abdullahi’s online campaign against a section of its officers is baseless.

Through its spokesperson Paul Ndemo, the Judiciary said the ‘jurispesa’ campaign by the lawyer has no evidence on any of the judges.

According to Mr Ndemo, the lawyer has been invited several times to give evidence but has failed to adduce the same.

His sentiments come a day after the Judiciary said it is seeking criminal law to address lawyer Ahmednasir’s online tirades about alleged corruption at Kenya’s Supreme Court.

In what is now an escalation of the long-standing standoff between Ahmednasir and the apex court, the registrar of the judiciary, who also serves as the secretary to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Renson Ingonga, calling for investigations and pressing charges against him.

The CRJ in the letter said Ahmednasir’s conduct is habitual and had crossed the line of criminality.

“We are of the view that this pattern of conduct amounts to a crime under the laws of Kenya. We are deeply concerned that if this conduct continues, it will erode public confidence and eventually undermine the rule of law which is one of the ideals upon which out constitutional democracy is founded,” wrote Mokaya.

Ahmednasir has been at a crossroads with the Supreme Court year in, year out. During Chief Justice David Maraga’s reign, the court read a riot act after he declined to apologize following an outburst in a criminal trial where he was representing Iranian convicts who had been jailed for targeting Israeli Embassy.

And Ndemo said the Judiciary decided to ask DPP to initiate the process of investigating and prosecuting Ahmednasir for failing to abduce the evidence.

“The senior lawyer has no credible information as he has been severally invited to give evidence but has failed to adduce the same,” said Mr Ndemo.

Mr Ndemo said instead of the lawyer prosecuting matters on social media channels, he should present the information legally.

“He is destroying the reputation of many of us from the vague accusations,” he said.

In December 2024, Chief Justice Martha Koome directed the Judicial Service Commission to form a task force to engage Ahmednasir and obtain details of his allegations.

The JSC was tasked with investigating claims of corruption involving some judges, as raised by Ahmednasir.

Koome urged the lawyer to cooperate with the JSC's investigative team to ensure transparency and accountability within the judiciary by releasing files related to ‘jurispesa’ however he declined the invitation.

The move saw the court issue a permanent ban on the lawyer from appearing before it.

The seven-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Koome, Deputy CJ Philomena Mwilu, and Justices Isaac Lenaola, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, Mohamed Ibrahim, and William Ouko, issued a decree barring Senior Counsel Ahmednasir from appearing before the court, both personally and through his law firm.

While imposing the permanent ban, the apex court judges stated that the Senior Counsel’s relentless attacks on the court’s integrity and impartiality were unacceptable.