Appeal judge GBM Kariuki loses race to apply for CJ post

Court of Appeal judge GBM Kariuki has lost a legal battle that would have allowed him to compete for the position of chief justice.

This happened on the day that a High Court ruling opened doors for other candidates previously locked out by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Justice Kariuki had filed a petition seeking to have the police compelled to give him a certificate of good conduct and have him shortlisted for the ongoing recruitment by the JSC.

In dismissing the application, High Court judge Roselyn Aburili ruled that judge Kariuki had not demonstrated that the police had ill intentions in denying him a certificate of good conduct and that the petition he lodged was an “afterthought” as he had not even applied for the job in question.

“There is no evidence that he lodged an application for the chief justice post and was rejected for want of the certificate of good conduct,” Justice Aburili ruled.

The appellate judge had sued the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr Ndegwa Muhoro, the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet and the attorney general for delaying the release of the certificate, which was an attendant requisite for the CJ vacancy applications.

The judge had read malice in the delay and had accused the police top brass of curtailing his quest to be the next CJ. Justice Kariuki hit the headlines when he was charged with attempted murder in 2010 but was later “acquitted for lack of evidence.”