Kenya Insights

Tag: Chief Justice

  • With the Initially Dropped Names Interviewed, Just What Will JSC Consider to Appoint the Next Chief Justice

    With the Initially Dropped Names Interviewed, Just What Will JSC Consider to Appoint the Next Chief Justice

    Makau Mutua
    Makau Mutua

    By Nicholas Olambo
    As interviews ended, Judiciary Service Commission (JSC) retreats to consider who is best fit to be the next Chief Justice of the supreme court of Kenya. The seat that fell vacant Willy Mutunga retired in june attracted 14 applicants but only 6 were shortlisted. The interviews this time did not match up to those of 2011 that saw controversial Willy Mutunga appointed the first CJ under the new law. The just concluded interviews attracted ‘jokes’ that opted out of the race after being shortlisted.

    The commission failed to sit one Thursday after an applicant who had been scheduled for interview bowed out, David Waihiga. He was the second to opt out after the law student cum carpenter Andrew Kongani who did not meet the 15 years’ minimum legal experience requirement. Waihaga however opted for the position of the Supreme Court judge. There were also gambles from some quarters that all those who applied should be interviewed for the interest of transparency.
    The recruitment process also saw big names such US based Kenyan Law Professor Makau Mutua, Former anti-corruption czar Aaron Ringera and Supreme Court Judge Jackton Boma Ojwang’ locked out. The decision to drop Prof Makau Mutua and Jackton Ojwang’ sparked reactions with Law Society of Kenya (LSK) putting JSC to task to explain the criteria that was used that saw more than half of the applicants not shortlisted. JSC sighted unsuitability on grounds of leadership, integrity and ethics as some of the reasons.

    The recruitment process also saw big names such US based Kenyan Law Professor Makau Mutua, Former anti-corruption czar Aaron Ringera and Supreme Court Judge Jackton Boma Ojwang’ locked out. The decision to drop Prof Makau Mutua and Jackton Ojwang’ sparked reactions with Law Society of Kenya (LSK) putting JSC to task to explain the criteria that was used that saw more than half of the applicants not shortlisted. JSC sighted unsuitability on grounds of leadership, integrity and ethics as some of the reasons.

    JSC had to interview the other seven in advent of the court order. The process was not rigorous as it was in 2011; the two sitting Supreme Court judges, Smokin Wanjala and Jackton Ojwang’ were subjected to the same questions which was not fair. Bubble gum questions like whether an applicant is on social media or not did not draw suitability in terms of competence, integrity, leadership and ethics. Some candidates responded to questions like they reciting poem.

    JSC had to interview the other seven in advent of the court order. The process was not rigorous as it was in 2011; the two sitting Supreme Court judges, Smokin Wanjala and Jackton Ojwang’ were subjected to the same questions which was not fair. Bubble gum questions like whether an applicant is on social media or not did not draw suitability in terms of competence, integrity, leadership and ethics. Some candidates responded to questions like they reciting poem.

    As the country awaits the big announcement from the JSC, the room for the public to guess is far wide with varying reasons. Considerations based on professional qualification, integrity, gender and ethnic distribution must produce the final cut. Candidates like Makau Mutua have shown that they are strong on principle, not afraid of the executive and can run the judiciary as an independent unit and are also pro reforms like the former CJ. Jackton Ojwang boasts of vast experience but he cannot keep his cool and respect for his juniors. He could also not explain the hefty legal award on Biwott case.

  • Why JSC Blocked Out Makau Mutua From The CJ Race And Why The Next Chief Justice Is Not Going To Be A Kikuyu

    Why JSC Blocked Out Makau Mutua From The CJ Race And Why The Next Chief Justice Is Not Going To Be A Kikuyu

    Prof Makau Mutua
    Prof Makau Mutua

    Starting tommorow, Monday (August 29, 2016), the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will commence the interview process of candidates shortlisted for the offices of Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya. The process is expected to grip the nations attention given the relevance of these offices now that we’re headed to the elections.

    Lawyer Ahmednassir Abdulahi aka Grandmullah who happens to be a former JSC member and an instrumental player in getting Mutunga into the CJ post and was seen to be gearing towards a Mutua succession is back in the debate. He’s breaking down the intrigues and politics behind the succession.

    Ethnicity card like in any public office has taken center stage in this debate. Ahmednassir further explains the intrigues. First, a number of candidates from Central Kenya who were salivating over the office of the Chief Justice were, in no uncertain terms, told not to apply by their kinsmen in power. These individuals include Attorney-General Githu Muigai and a number of senior judges. This explains why no candidate from central Kenya will be interviewed for the office of the CJ. They fell victim of a noxious ethnic calculus designed by their brethren in power.

    Push for an older candidate

    Second, it was decreed that members of the JSC who are controlled by the government would be under firm instructions to push for an older candidate for the office of the CJ – one who can serve a maximum of four years. The strategy is to have another chief justice appointed before President Uhuru’s tenure comes to an end in 2022. All the candidates who were prohibited from running for the office now will be allowed to contest in four years’ time.

    The plan is simple. The next President will have a chief Justice from Central Kenya to provide a constitutional counter balance. This strategy explains why Justice J.B. Ojwang of the Supreme Court was the government’s preferred candidate for CJ.

    Third, it was further agreed that,whatever the cost, Prof Makau Mutua, must not be shortlisted for the job. We all know the censorious and, at times injudicious, commentaries the good professor has made against the President and his deputy.

    His many predictions that President Kenyatta and William Ruto will age and rot in prison after their conviction at The Hague is still vivid in the minds of those who hold the levers of power. A further calculation by the schemers was that if Prof Mutua was shortlisted, there wasn’t any process or mechanism in light of his gravitas and resume that would stop him from becoming the next chief justice of Kenya. This explains why he was disqualified on grounds no one knows to date.

    Adopted from Nairobi Law Monthly