A section of top lawyers and legal scholars have criticized Chief Justice Martha Koome over her statement to the Head of State regarding his decision to reject appointing six judges nominated by the JSC.
Led by Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, the lawyers said the statement by CJ Koome is not enough as more needs to be done.
“Madam Chief Justice... Not yet!” Murkomen tweeted.
On his part, LSK President Nelson Havi claimed that the CJ was involved in the appointments, arguing that she would not have presented herself in State House if she was not involved in the process.
“If CJ Martha Koome had nothing to do with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s appointment of 33 instead of 40 Judges what was she doing at State House? How did the Judges end up there in robes? Did she tell the President what she has jotted down in that underwhelming unsigned note?” he tweeted.
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Renowned Kenyan lawyer Miguna Miguna also weighed in on the debate terming CJ Koome as “useless and incompetent”.
“Martha Koome is so useless and incompetent one would think that she was taken right out of a Miraa Farm in Meru to the Hallowed Halls of the Supreme Court of Kenya. Her statement on despot Uhuru Kenyatta's unconstitutional actions vindicates everyone who questioned her integrity,” Miguna tweeted.
In the statement released on Friday evening, CJ Koome requested President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint the remaining six judges whose names were not gazetted.
President Kenyatta turned down the nomination of six judges to the Court of Appeal, Environment, and Lands Court. They included Justices Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga, Weldon Korir, and Prof Joel Ngugi who were to join the Court of Appeal.
In her statement, Koome distanced herself from the recruitment process which happened two years ago but requested the Head of State to appoint the judges.
"I am aware that on 11th January 2014 the JSC recommended the appointment of 25 nominees as judges, and on June 2014 the President initially appointed 11 of them and subsequently appointed the remaining 14.
"We call upon H.E the President to similarly appoint the remaining 6 judges because the judiciary is still in dire need as the backlog of cases is increasing. We should find a lasting solution so that moving forward, this kind of delay and misunderstanding will be a thing of the past," part of the statement read.
