The Judicial Service Commission has nominated seven judges for appointment to the Court of Appeal.

They are six High Court judges Luka Kimaru, Lydia Achode, Fredrick Ochieng, John Mativo, Grace Ngenye, Aroni-Abida Ali and lawyer Paul Mwaniki.

Chief Justice Martha Koome, who is also the JSC chair, released their names on Wednesday evening and indicated they had been sent to President Uhuru Kenyatta for the appointment.

In a statement, Koome said a JSC panel interviewed 30 applicants and picked seven, who met the requisite conditions set for the interviews.

“After lengthy deliberations and careful consideration of the performance of the various candidates and based on the constitutional imperative of merit, gender, regional balance, affirmative action and public interest, JSC has recommended the appointment of the under-listed to the Office of Judge of the Court of Appeal and has submitted their names to the President for an appointment,” the CJ said.

The appointment of six other nominees, who were rejected by President Uhuru in 2019, is the subject of litigation in various courts. A case seeking to compel the CJ to swear in the judges is still pending in the Court of Appeal. They are judges Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga, Weldon Korir and Joel Ngugi. The four had been recommended by JSC to join the Appellate court.

President Uhuru also left out Chief Magistrate Evans Makori and High Court Registrar Judith Omange, who were recommended to be judges of the Labour Relations Court.

While rejecting six out of 41 judges, the President did not give reasons for failing to appoint them.

Former Chief Justice David Maraga had challenged the President to provide information on any adverse allegations on the nominees in vain.

A judge of the Court of Appeal earns a maximum monthly salary of Sh1.1 million. Presently, the Court of Appeal has 20 judges against a statutory establishment of a maximum of 30 with Lady Justice Roselyne Nambuye set to retire.

At the moment, nominees lead various divisions and stations across the Judiciary.  Justice Kimaru heads Kitale Law Courts while Mativo moves from Mombasa where he is the Resident Judge.

Lady Justice Achode is the  new position from being the Principal Judge at Milimani Law Court. A principal judge supervises all the other judges of the High court.

Criminal division

 Justice Ngenye moves from the criminal division of the High Court where she heads the appeals division.

 Ali-Aroni heads the Wajir Law Courts whereas Ochieng moves from Kisumu.

 Justice Ngenye is remembered for ordering the retrial of two rugby players facing rape charges. She is the National Committee on Criminal Justice Reforms chairperson.

 Judge Kimaru on the other hand is famous for his rulings on activities surrounding the arrest and deportation of lawyer Miguna Miguna when he ordered that the now Canada-based barrister be produced in court.

Miguna by then was being held by police and shuffled to various courts including Kajiado before he was flown to Dubai en route to Canada. Justice Ochieng is known for nullifying the election of former Gatundu South MP Clement Waibara, whose academic credentials had been questioned by former Gatundu North MP Patrick Kariuki Muiruri. Ochieng has earned the respect of both the Bar and Bench as a punctual, strict and hardworking judge.

New recruitment

 Justice Achode is a former High Court Registrar. She was among the judges who determined, among others, the election petition filed by former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar against Governor Hassan Joho.

 Mwaniki is a former member of the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission and a private law practitioner.

 Their recruitment took place after the Court of Appeal on June 16, lifted a High Court order that had halted the hiring exercise.

 A three-judge Bench composed of Laddy Justices Wanjiru Karanja and Agnes Murgor and Imaana Laibuta, while overturning the High Court decision, found that it was in the public interest that the recruitment proceeds uninterrupted pending the determination of an appeal filed by JSC.

 The trio ruled that JSC had a strong and arguable appeal against the High Court’s decision to suspend the recruitment. A suspension order dated June 3 stemmed from a petition filed by a lobby group, Katiba Institute, raising issues of independence of the Chief Justice and JSC in the recruitment of judges.

Civil society group is also challenging the constitutionality of the decision of  JSC to commence fresh recruitment of judges when a similar process has begun by Maraga was not concluded by President Uhuru.