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Lawyer Omwanza Ombati is among candidates seeking to represent his colleagues at the Judiciary Service Commission.

In a contest pitting him against outgoing Law Society of Kenya President Eric Theuri and Prof Michael Wabwile, Ombati is promising to push reforms in the Judiciary if elected.

His bid is seen as a rematch between him and Theuri. The two were the main rivals in the 2022 LSK election for its presidency but Theuri prevailed.

In this contest, Ombati was the first to be cleared by the election board after he presented his nomination papers. The two are seeking to replace Macharia Njeru whose stay at the commission comes to an end in May.

Ombati says his objective is to improve the operations of the JSC, to make it more open and develop an environment for the practice of law.

“The Judicial Service Commission is not merely an institution; it is the oil that runs the engines of our daily legal endeavours through critical policy interventions,” says Ombati.

“As advocates, the decision we make in choosing our representative at the JSC is of paramount importance. Our aim is clear: to seek a representative who not only understands the challenges that we face in practice but also has the best plan to address the challenges.”

The advocate counts on his 20 years’ experience to deliver for the lawyers and for the public interest. “I believe my 20 years of active practice within the corridors of justice have prepared me adequately to represent my esteemed colleagues at the Judiciary Service Commission,” Ombati said.

The lawyer boasts of his litigation expertise and his involvement in affairs of LSK through public interest litigation and through committees. Ombati says he has gone throughout the country and listened to lawyers and knows what they will require in terms of representation at the JSC.

In an interview with the People Daily, Ombati said there’s a corporate role for all the commissioners in terms of collegiality and making decisions to bind the commission including recruitment of judges and magistrates.

His specific role, he says, will be to represent lawyers. “They constitute the largest constituency in terms of consumers of justice and also they connect the judiciary to the public.”

He explains that his role is to make sure the Judiciary is accountable, it is efficient and quick in reacting to public concerns of the public as consumers of justice.

On the Supreme Court decision to bar Senior Counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi from appearing before it, Ombati says he disagrees.

He asserts that the communication was drastic and not a decision in a legal sense adding, “Supreme Court exercised powers that it did not have. The decision is malicious. There was no trigger for the Supreme Court decision.”

He says the supreme court should be mature enough to withstand even the harshest criticism because it is a public institution. To him, there is public perception that JSC is not responding in making judges and magistrates accountable. They need a more robust engagement with the public to demonstrate that they are working for the interest of the public.

In a proposal that seems radical, he says there should be outsiders in the JSC to make its decisions diverse. This is part of his manifesto. He says, “previously before the current term of the current commissioner that represents lawyers, there was an unwritten rule that a certain percentage of those who would go to the bench would come from the bar. There was an unwritten rule that was agreeable in the commission but that seems to be overturned.”

“It is important that we infuse those who practice law from the bar including academicians and those who are in the public service and corporations, to also bring their diversity and experience because when we have a policy that is almost like self-promotion that then we do not infuse new blood and thinking,” Ombati further says.

He terms the current spat between the Judiciary and Executive as uncalled for. The President, he says, is undermining the authority of the Judiciary, which he says has created a bad perception especially when the Chief Justice met with Ruto without telling Kenyans the basis of their meeting.

He promises to look into how the Judiciary responds to complaints and also have legal fees reviewed so that everyone can access justice.

On allegations that he’s close to president William Ruto, he explains that he represented him as a candidate when he became president elect. “The instruction to represent him came from Senior Counsel Fred Ngatia to join their team. I have never been close to him. Unlike my opponent who has been seen in the State House, I have never been there,” says Ombati.
–Tomorrow we publish an interview with Prof Wabwile

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