Full in-tray for Maraga after CJ appointment

Informal wheeler dealers and wayward judicial officers are headed for tough times should Justice David Maraga live up to the pledges he made in a televised job interview.
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Thursday recommended that President Uhuru Kenyatta appoints Mr Justice Maraga as the next head of the Judiciary and president of the Supreme Court.

He beats 12 other applicants who sought to serve as Chief Justice.

“JSC has after lengthy deliberations recommended Hon Justice David Kenani Maraga for appointment of Chief Justice and has submitted the name to his Excellency the President,” Prof Margaret Kobia, the JSC acting chairperson said.

Mr Justice Maraga himself appeared before the Judges and Magistrates’ Vetting Board in 2012 to respond to allegations of bribery and ethnicity in executing his judicial functions. The board cleared him.

When he appeared before the JSC panel on August 31 as the third applicant to be interviewed, the Kisumu-based Court of Appeal judge pledged to smash Judiciary cartels and appoint a senior judge as an ombudsman in his first year at the helm.

He also promised to clear backlog of cases and ensure poor Kenyans appearing in courts get access to lawyers under the Legal Aid Act.

If Parliament clears him to succeed Dr Willy Mutunga, he will head the Supreme Court through next year’s election.

His nomination comes a day after the tribunal he chaired recommended the sacking of High Court judge Joseph Mutava over allegations of misconduct.

The University of Nairobi graduate had prior to his appointment as a High Court judge in 2003, worked as a lawyer for 25 years. He was promoted to Court of Appeal in 2011.

He told the JSC panel that he would introduce several reforms to tame cartels and corruption at the Judiciary, including the setting up an email address through which the public would raise complaints against judges and magistrates.

Mr Justice Maraga said Supreme Court, under his stewardship would only handle presidential election petition, allowing the Court of Appeal to retain the final authority on gubernatorial, senatorial, parliamentary and ward poll disputes.

“My vision if appointed CJ will be to restore public confidence in the Judiciary. I know there are challenges and disunity in the Supreme Court but I want to be remembered as the leader who brought unity in that court,” he told the JSC panelists during the interview.