Who was Joseph Mutava, the former judge caught up in Pattni, Tuju controversies?

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

Former High Court judge Joseph Mbalu Mutava died on Saturday morning in Makueni County, bringing to an end a career that rose fast but was later overshadowed by major controversies over his conduct on the bench.

Mutava, who was married to Kibwezi East MP Jessica Mbalu, was in good health on Friday and had attended the burial of a close family friend before he fell ill hours later.

His friends rushed him to Othofix Hospital, a private facility in Makindu Township, after he collapsed in Kibwezi Township early Saturday. Medics pronounced him dead on arrival.

“We have transferred the body to Lee Funeral Home for preservation,” a heartbroken Ms Mbalu told the Nation.

The soft-spoken lawyer was appointed a High Court judge on August 23, 2011, by President Mwai Kibaki. He had graduated from the University of Nairobi with a First Class Honours law degree and, before joining the Bench, had worked at the Central Bank of Kenya as an assistant legal secretary.

His time as a judge, however, was brief. Between March 2012 and March 2013, the Judicial Service Commission received 13 complaints about his conduct, including questions over how some cases were assigned to him and how he handled matters before him.

After reviewing the complaints, the JSC found that three were serious enough to warrant a formal investigation into whether he should remain a judge.

One of the major complaints arose from a case involving businessman Kamlesh Pattni, a key suspect in the multi-billion-shilling Goldenberg scandal.

The tribunal that investigated Mutava’s conduct found that he had caused Pattni’s case to be placed before him without the approval or knowledge of the duty judge or the presiding judge who was supposed to handle it.

The tribunal also found that Mutava took the case file from the Judicial Review Division to Kericho and later wrote the judgment while the JSC was already investigating complaints about his handling of the case.

Mutava eventually ruled in Pattni’s favour, stopping criminal proceedings against him over the Goldenberg scandal. He found that the long delay in prosecuting Pattni had caused injustice and ordered that the criminal case be brought to an end.

Pattni had earlier tried to settle with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions after surrendering the Grand Regency Hotel (later Laico Regency) to the government.

The DPP rejected the proposal, saying the Goldenberg scandal went beyond the hotel and that surrendering the property could not be used as the basis for ending the criminal case.

The DPP later challenged Mutava’s decision to stop the prosecution.

Another complaint concerned a separate case involving Sehit Investments.

Mutava was accused of trying to influence the outcome of the case, which was before another judge, Leonard Njagi, through phone calls and text messages.

The disciplinary process itself became a long legal battle. In 2014, three High Court judges ruled in Mutava’s favour after he challenged the proceedings against him, finding that the procedure used to investigate him had breached his rights.

The JSC appealed the decision and, in 2015, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court ruling and allowed the investigation into Mutava’s conduct to continue.

A tribunal then heard the complaints and recommended that Mutava be removed from office.

He challenged the decision at the Supreme Court, arguing that the tribunal had not been properly constituted, that some complaints had been withdrawn and that he had not received a fair hearing.

The Supreme Court rejected his appeal in a judgment delivered on March 12, 2019, upholding the tribunal’s findings that his conduct amounted to serious misconduct warranting his removal from office.

The court also upheld the recommendation that he be removed as a High Court judge.

The Supreme Court decision was significant beyond Mutava’s case because it was the first time the court had heard an appeal arising from a tribunal formed to investigate the conduct of a judge.

The case became an important test of how judges could be held accountable for their conduct while in office.

After his removal, Mutava largely avoided the limelight and operated a private law firm offering legal consultancy.

His name, however, resurfaced in March 2026 in a Sh15 million alleged bribery controversy involving former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission investigated allegations that intermediaries had sought money from Tuju by claiming they could influence the outcome of his cases.

Court documents placed Mutava and a Nairobi-based lawyer among people alleged to have been involved in the approach. The allegations remained contested and were under investigation at the time of his death.

The 2026 allegations had not resulted in a conviction, and investigations were still active when Mutava died.

When he led politicians to mourn the judge, Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka overlooked the stain on his career.

“Justice Mutava served our nation with honour, integrity and quiet distinction. He leaves behind a legacy of service in our judiciary. But it is at home that Mutava will be missed most; as a husband and a father, and it is there that our thoughts and prayers are today,” the former vice president said in a statement.

Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior said Mutava’s legacy remained firmly etched in community development.

“He was a brilliant and soft-spoken man who played a key role in community matters in Kibwezi and Makueni County,” he said in a statement.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.