Majanja: Sharp jurist who made tough rulings, but with sympathy

As the debate on whether Members of Parliament should have a salary cut or not rages on, one man who saved Kenyans from the unnecessary burden of paying them after exiting Parliament silently slipped away into the ancestry.

High Court judge David Majanja, a Busherian (Alliance High School) alumni was known for his pleasant responses to advocates but handed stoppers in judgments to anyone who went against the law.

At Alliance, he was admission number 5211 in the 1990 class.

Such is the case of Members of Parliament who wanted a life after retirement bankrolled by taxpayers.

On January 23, 2009, the then Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende appointed former High Court Akilano Molade Akiwumi who was then retired, alongside eight others, to review the terms and conditions of the assembly.

It was known as the Akiwumi Tribunal. Akiwumi died in February after serving the Judiciary for 14 years.

The team reported its findings to the Speaker on November 12, 2009. The report said former parliamentarians were living in deplorable conditions despite serving the country.

It narrowed on enhancing their pension in order to give them a decent life after Parliament.

“When an MP leaves Parliament, it is next to impossible for him to get gainful employment. The foregoing, and a host of other considerations, make a powerful case for the payment of a living pension for former Members of Parliament as a pension is the only source of livelihood, available for a majority of them,” the report read in part.

The team suggested that MPs should get a minimum living pension equivalent to $1,000 (Sh128,000) a month. The recommendation ended up being a part of a case between former MPs Wanyiri Kihoro, Adrew Kiptoon, Mohamed Abdi Galgalo, Mark Mwithaga, Adam Wako Bonaya and Robert Kiptoo Kotir. 

In the case against the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), they lamented that the National Assembly was paying Sh2,700 per month

According to the MPs who served between 1963 and 2007, it was unfair to serve the nation in that capacity but end up suffering financial neglect and indignity.

They sought Sh100,000 a month or Sh744,000 per annum.

Justice David Majanja threw out the case in 2014. He first informed them that he sympathised with their situation, but handed a banger against them in the end.

“This case evokes great sympathy and I add my voice to the applicants’ plea. They have served their country and it is only fair that due consideration is given to their plight to enable them live in dignity.”

“MPs must realise membership of the House is through the grace and favour of the people and once the people exercise their ultimate authority to remove them, they will find themselves in the shoes of the applicants,” said Majanja.

Majanja died on Wednesday this week after serving as a judge from 2011.

Before that, he worked among others at Mohammed Muigai Advocates, then moved to start another law firm alongside senior lawyer Katwa Kigen, and lastly had a stint at Majanja, Luseno and Company Advocates before joining the Judiciary.

The Judge attained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Nairobi in 1996, followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1998.

After the 2007 post-election violence, Majanja was appointed as an assisting counsel for the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence which was headed by Justice Phillip Waki (Waki Commission).

His story cannot end without his Pandora’s box judgment against the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

In his career as a Judge, Majanja sat in the Commercial and Tax Division of the High Court.

Among the cases he determined was one involving 2017 Value Added Tax regulations.

Justice David Majanja found the regulations ceased to have any effect on April 11, 2017, as the then Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich never tabled them before the National Assembly as required by law.

This left KRA in limbo as it exposed it to claims or cases from taxpayers seeking relief and refunds.

The import of the decision was that KRA was bound to refund the VAT it collected based on the invalidated regulations.

At the same time, the decision was to cut both ways as a taxpayer who based their VAT refund was also exposed. It also had an impact on monthly VAT compliance.

According to the Judge, the CS was required to submit the regulations to the August House within seven days of publication in the Kenya gazette.

The Judge was settling a dispute between a maritime company W.E.C Lines Kenya Limited and the commissioner of domestic taxes over a Sh6 million VAT tax refund.

W.E.C through its lawyer Hamilton and Mathews had asked KRA to consider a refund for the period between February 2015 and January 2018 on the basis that it was offering zero-rated services to its parent company based in Netherlands, W.E.C BV.

KRA declined give a refund based on the 2017 VAT regulations, arguing that the agency agreement showed that the Kenyan firm is paid a commission for customer care and post-landing services that were used and consumed in Kenya.

The Judge disagreed with the commissioner by finding the regulations he was relying on became invalid on the eighth day after the CS failed to table them in Parliament.

At the same court, he declined to award a woman who had sued Coca-Cola Company after she allegedly found a drinking straw in an unopened soda bottle.

Catherine Wanjiru’s case over a 300-millilitre Fanta pineapple bottle dragged in court for 10 years.

His last major case was on the contentious Finance Act, 2022. Majanja sat alongside Justices Christine Meoli and Lawrence Mugambi. The trio agreed with everything about the Act, save for the Housing Levy.

They found that the government ingeniously went for salaried employees as low-hanging fruits but turned a blind eye on those who are unsalaried.

Majanja is said to have grown up in Eldoret where his mother, Prof. Mabel Majanja, was a lecturer at Moi University.

He will be cremated on Wednesday coming week at the Kariokor Cemetery in Nairobi as he wished.

Among those who have eulogised him as a brilliant jurist include Siaya Governor James Orengo, Law Society of Kenya President Faith Odhiambo, and Chief Justice Martha Koome.