Six distinguished officers of the court have been shortlisted by the Judiciary Service Commission to interview for the position of Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court. We profile them here...
Smokin Wanjala, 56, was born in Machakos in 1960 and is a judge of the Supreme Court.
Appointed in 2011, he was part of the seven judge bench that heard the
presidential election petition of 2013. He was seen as a close confidant of
retired Chief Justice Willy Mutunga. A scholar who has over 15 years teaching
experience at the University of Nairobi Law School, Dr. Wanjala has in the past
served as a director at the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission where he
served under rtd. Justice Aaron Ringera and was in charge of research. He is
one of four remaining judges on the Supreme Court bench following the
retirement of CJ Mutunga, DCJ Rawal and Justice Tunoi. He holds a Ph. D from
the University of Ghent, Belgium, a Masters degree in Law from Columbia
University and an LL. B from University of Nairobi.
Nzamba Kitonga was born in 1956 and is aged, 60 years. This
would make him CJ for a full term of 10 years. A past chairman of the Law
Society of Kenya (elected in 1997), he has also served as the Judge President
of the COMESA court. He is best remembered as the chairman of the Committee of
Experts that steered the process of delivering the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
He previously served as a Commissioner on the Goldenberg Commission chaired by
(rtd) Justice SEO Bosire. He is a past chairman of the East African Law Society
and a past recipient of the Jurist of the Year award from the International
Commission of Jurists (2010).
Justice Mbogoli Msagha was born in 1953 (aged 63) in the
then Coast province of Kenya. He is the Principal Judge of the High Court of
Kenya. Appointed judge at the young age of 34 years in 1987, he has served on
the bench for close to 30 years. He has presided over landmark cases such as
the Mwai Kibaki petition against the election of President Moi in 1997 and the
suit challenging the laying off of 1800 workers from Kenya Airways in 1990. He
has sometimes in the past been accused of avoiding making hard decisions when
issuing rulings and judgements.
Justice Alnashir Visram who is in his mid-sixties sits in
the Court of Appeal. He is famously remembered as having been appointed to be
the next Chief Justice to replace the retiring Evans Gicheru in 2011 by
President Mwai Kibaki. But the ensuing uproar raised by coalition partner Raila
Odinga over the manner of the appointment led to the withdrawal of this appointment
and the JSC was tasked to vet candidates for the post. Willy Mutunga emerged
the choice candidate and became the CJ. Visram is an Ismaili Muslim who has
served as the CEO of the Aga Khan Fund in Kenya and as High Court judge for
many years having been appointed to the bench in 2001.
Justice Roselyn Nambuye, 64, is a judge of the Court of
Appeal. The resilient Justice who has twice fought forced retirement, first by
the Ringera Commission’s so-called radical surgery in 2003 and secondly by the
Sharad Rao vetting board in 2012 is seeking a Supreme Court seat for the second time. She became the third woman in the country appointed
judge of the High Court in 1991. She is married to rtd Justice Daniel Aganyanya
who served on the Court of Appeal. In 2011 she was appointed to the Court of
Appeal after she unsuccessfully applied for the position of Deputy Chief
Justice. In a race against Martha Koome, Mary Kasango, Hannah Okwengu, Mary Ang’awa
and Joseph Nyamu, all justices, and lawyers Nancy Baraza and Gladys Shollei,
she lost out to Nancy Baraza. Justice Nambuye has spoken frankly about how her
inability to have children led to the breakdown of her first marriage and how
she and her second husband have raised numerous step children and adopted many
orphans whom they have educated and nurtured. A crusader for gender inclusivity
in the judiciary, she delights at more women being appointed to the bench.
Justice David Kenani Maraga, 64, is the Presiding Judge of the
Court of Appeal in Kisumu. He was appointed to the High Court in October2003
and to the Court of Appeal in 2011. A holder of both an LL.B and an LL.M from
the University of Nairobi, he also chairs the Judiciary Committee on Elections
tasked with overseeing election petition hearings that may arise after the 2017
elections within the prescribed period in the constitution. He successfully
underwent the vetting board fending off accusations of tribalism and bribery
seeking and was unanimously endorsed to continue to serve in 2012. An avowed
Seventh Day Adventist, he startled the board proceedings when he invoked God’s
name loudly and went on to swear that he had never taken a bribe in his life.
THE SECOND CLASS
This is the second time the position of Chief Justice is
being contested through a vetting process. In 2011, the candidates who sought
to make the inaugural Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court
included.
1.
Willy Mutunga
2.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Judge
Lee Muthoga
3.
Justice Alnashir Visram JJA (Court of Appeal)
4.
Justice Joseph Nyamu JJA
5.
Justice Riaga (RSC) Omollo JJA
6.
Justice Samuel (SEO) Bosire JJA
7.
Justice Paul Kihara J (High Court)
8.
Justice Msagha Mbogoli
9.
Justice Mary Ang’awa
10.
Justice Kalpana Rawal
CJ Mutunga is now retired as is Kalpana Rawal who was later to become Deputy Chief Justice and only left the bench after a bitter judicial fight ended at the Supreme Court. Visram is a candidate once again.
J
Justices Joseph Nyamu, Riaga Omollo, Samuel Bosire and Mary Ang'awa were found unfit to serve by the Sharad Rao led vetting committee of the judiciary and have since exited. Justice Kihara is now the President of the Court of Appeal.
