Eyes on Uhuru as key judiciary members retire

 

Outspoken JSC commissioner Ahmednasir Abdullahi is due to retire in the next two months as the process of replacing commissioners who have served their term begins. Photo/BILLY MUTAI  Nation Media Group

In Summary
President and the Law Society of Kenya have to forward names of replacements as soon as possible to avoid derailing the affairs of the Judicial Service Commission whose mandate includes hiring of judges

 By MUGUMO MUNENE
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Justice Isaac Lenaola has retired as a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in what is likely to heighten the intrigues that have rocked the institution over the last two months.

Outspoken commissioner Ahmednasir Abdullahi is due to retire in the next two months as the process of replacing commissioners who have served their term begins.

Another commissioner, whose name should be announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta, is also leaving the powerful commission whose mandate includes employment of judges and senior members of the Judiciary.

President Kenyatta has to make an immediate decision about which of two commissioners appointed by his predecessor––Christine Mango and the Rev Samuel Kobia––will retire.

The decision has to be immediate because according to the law, the tenure of one of the presidential nominees expired yesterday while two years remain in the other’s contract.

When President Kibaki made the appointments, the law required that one serve for three years and the other for five years, but he did not distinguish between the two.

The tour of service for members of the JSC is staggered by the Constitution in order to maintain continuity and institutional memory.

The Constitution prescribes which commissioners can serve for three years and which for five, which means that no one team can be in the powerful positions for too long, and the face of the commission has to change every three years.

The retirement of Justice Lenaola, Mr Abdullahi and either Prof Mango or the Rev Kobia will give the JSC a new face in the midst of the crisis stoked by the loud and controversial dismissal of former Chief Registrar Gladys Boss Shollei.

Mrs Shollei, who served as commission secretary, was sacked last week as she protested her innonece after a gruelling two months of acrimony between her and the JSC.

According to the commission, she faces 87 allegations of financial and human resource mismanagement, irregularities and illegalities in procurement and misbehaviour.

A statement from the JSC said in her responses filed on October 1 and subsequently amended on October 15, Mrs Shollei admitted to 33 allegations and denied 38 others.

The JSC will now have to hire a new chief registrar, which will contribute to the changing composition of top echelons in the corridors of justice.

The Law Society of Kenya will play a crucial role in the future of the JSC as the body decides in a vote by its members who will represent them when Mr Abdullahi retires.

He has offered himself for re-election and will face Prof Tom Ojienda, a former LSK chairman and Mr Ken Nyaundi, a former commissioner with the defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission.

“We will request IEBC to hold the elections for the representative to the JSC alongside that of the chair, vice chair and council members of the LSK.

The date for elections will be decided by the LSK Council, but the secretariat is open for nominations, and the deadline for nominating candidates is November 15,” said LSK secretary Apollo Mboya.

The battle for control of the expanding judiciary budget, which now stands at approximately Sh15 billion, and the future composition of the powerful Supreme Court are expected to attract powerful interests over who occupies the coveted positions.

As LSK decides, the Judges and Magistrates Association is expected to meet to elect a replacement for Justice Lenaola.

The elections at LSK and at the Judges and Magistrates Association as well as President Kenyatta’s nominee to the JSC will be watched closely as the new entrants will join the team that will decide the composition of the Supreme Court in 2017 when a majority of the current occupants will have retired.

The Supreme Court has seven judges — Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, his Deputy Kalpana Rawal, Justices Philip Tunoi, Smokin Wanjala, J.B. Ojwang, Mohammed Ibrahim and Njoki Ndung’u. Justice Mutunga’s term ends in 2017, while Justices Rawal and Tunoi are approaching retirement age and are expected to leave before then.

This means that in 2017, there will be a new Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and at least one other new judge on Kenya’s most powerful bench.

The composition of the Supreme Court and the JSC are seen as crucial because a presidential election petition is heard and determined by the court.

When Cord candidate in this year’s presidential election, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, disputed the outcome of the March 4 General Election, it was the Supreme Court that ruled on the dispute.

For this reason it is viewed as a powerful court that can constitutionally determine the outcome of a dispute over the next president.