Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says he is yet to fully recover from a “traumatising” past experience in the corridors of justice.

Addressing delegates at the third symposium on Greening Judiciaries in Africa on Wednesday, April 4, the country’s second in command said he is still intimidated by the judiciary, five months after the Directorate of Public Prosecutions dropped corruption charges against him in a Ksh7.3 billion case.

“I must say that appearing before many chief justices and judges is rather intimidating. In my earlier life, before the people of Kenya decided to bring me to this side of the divide, I was a constant visitor before you in not-very-pleasant circumstances,” Gachagua told the delegation led by Chief Justice Martha Koome in Nairobi.

Gachagua confessed that he is still hesitant to interact with judicial officials to date.

“Anytime you invite me I am a bit hesitant because appearing before you in different circumstances is rather traumatising. But we are healing slowly and this continuous appearing before you completes that healing,” he added.

DPP Noordin Haji applied to withdraw Gachagua’s case in November last year under section 87A of the criminal procedure code, saying investigations into the matter were not complete.

Obadiah Kuria, the investigating officer in the case, told anti-corruption court magistrate Victor Wakumile that there were some areas in the suit that were not adequately covered because he was not given sufficient time to complete the investigations.

In allowing Haji’s application, the magistrate said one could not prefer charges in anticipation of getting evidence.

“The decision to charge must be exercised judiciously, sufficiently, impartially and independently,” the magistrate said.

“As courts of laws, we are no longer passive arbiters of everything and anything that is presented before us for adjudication. Never, in my view, should a judicial system be used as a stopgap measure or a doormat. There is a need to respect institutions.”

Gachagua maintained that the case against him was politically instigated due to his political alignment at the time.

Meanwhile, Gachagua on Wednesday, urged the courts to embrace environmental conservation sentence instead of custodial sentence.

Gachagua, while closing the third symposium on Greening Judiciaries in Africa, argued that petty offenders are not able to raise fines imposed on them and as such ended up in jails, congesting the country’s prisons.

“More than half of the detainees are petty offenders. Petty offenders are punishable by a fine, jail term or both. Most of these people are hustlers. In other words, they may not raise the fines. Instead of the custodial sentences, I urge the judiciary to embrace environmental conservation sentences as has been recommended in a host of criminal justice reports.”