The high court has ordered President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint the six judges out of forty that he failed to appoint last year.
A three judge bench composed of justice George Dulu, William Musyoka and James Wakiaga ruled that failure by the President to do so, the judges will be deemed duly appointed.
“If the President fails to do so within the stipulated period, the six judges will be deemed to have been duly appointed and consequently the Chief Justice and the Judicial Service should take the mandate and swear in the judges,” ruled the bench.
According to the ruling, the President had no power to vet or consult anybody over the appointment of judges adding that he violated the constitution and the Bill of Rights by discriminating against Justice Weldon Korir, Georgia Odunga, prof. Joel Ngugi, Aggrey Muchelule, Evans Makori and Judith Omange.
The judges said that President Uhuru Kenyatta relied upon a report from a state agency that implicated the six thereby unsuitable to be appointed.
“They said that report remained a secret, it was never produced before the Chief justice or JSC to establish if indeed the judges were unsuitable to be appointed,” the court ruled.
The JSC completed the recruitment of the judges between July and August 2019 and forwarded the list to President Kenyatta for appointment who was su;posed to appoint them within 14 days but he took almost a year before doing so.
In June last 2020, President Kenyatta appointed 34 out of the 40 nominees and rejected the six citing integrity issues
