Charles Nyachae: I earned Ksh.280K monthly at EACJ doing nothing

The process of searching for the successor of the former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson, the late Wafula Chebukati, began Monday morning, with the IEBC Selection Panel grilling four out of the eleven candidates for the top electoral body post.

The immediate former Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Anne Atieno Amadi, came face to face with the ghosts of her ten-year tenure at the helm of the Judiciary as members of the Selection Panel took her to task over her alleged involvement in the Ksh.100 million gold scam syndicate that led to the freezing of her accounts.

"It was a malicious attack, which is something that, when you are in public service, you must be ready for. Public service at any level is not for the faint-hearted. It was an attempt to shake me and slander my reputation because I have upheld my integrity… I do not have skills in gold trading," said Amadi.

In the case that made headlines in 2023 and last year before Amadi’s exit, Demetrios Bradshaw, a British national and director of Bruton Gold Trading LLC, sued the Amadi and Associates Advocates law firm, which was linked to Amadi, for allegedly defrauding him in a gold trade deal.

"I had already left the firm and was not involved in its operations… The freezing of my accounts was unjustified, and the courts have since vindicated me," she added.

Meanwhile, the former Chairperson of the Constitution Implementation Commission, Charles Nyachae, was also at pains to respond to a petition from a member of the public regarding his current position at the Kenya School of Government.

"I chair the Council of the Kenya School of Government. That certainly makes me a public officer… I am not sure it makes me a state officer," said Nyachae.

The former judge of the East African Court of Justice also explained why he had to leave his post in Arusha.

"I said to myself, I am not being fair to the people of East Africa since, all this time, every month, I earned US$2,000 (Ksh.280,000) for doing nothing," he told the panel.

Others who appeared before the Selection Panel included Naivasha Chief Magistrate Abdulqadir Lorot Ramadhan, who stated that he would resign from his position should he clinch the chairperson role, and Edward Katama Ngeywa, a person living with a disability, who is also vying for the post.