President William Ruto has promised to immediately appoint six judges who were rejected by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 4, 2021.

Ruto said he will preside over their swearing-in ceremony at State House on Wednesday, September 14.

“This afternoon, I will appoint the six judges that were nominated three years ago and preside over their swearing-in tomorrow,” Ruto said in his inaugural speech as President.

Uhuru rejects six judges

Uhuru turned down the nomination of the six judges and appointed 34 candidates nominated by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to the Court of Appeal, Environment and Lands Court, and the Employment and Labour Relations Court in 2019.

The judges included High Court Justices Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Aggrey Muchelule, and Weldon Korir.

Others were Registrar of the High Court Judith Omange and Chief Magistrate Evans Makori, who had been nominated to the Environment and Lands Court.

The then Chief Justice David Maraga criticised Uhuru for the move to reject the nominated judges.

“The constitution does not donate any mandate to the president to perform any other act upon receiving the names recommended by the JSC except to appoint them,” he said.