President Uhuru finally approves appointment of 7 Court of Appeal judges
President Uhuru Kenyatta has finally approved the appointments of seven judges the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) nominated for the position of Court of Appeal positions last week.
The Head of the state approved the appointment of six High Court Judges Luka Kimaru, Lydia Achode, Fredrick Ochieng, John Mativo, Grace Ngenye, Aroni Abida Ali, and advocate Paul Mwaniki in a gazette notice dated Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 166(1)(b) of the constitution of Kenya, l Uhuru Kenyatta, President and the Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces appoint the seven nominees to be judges of the Court of Appeal," the gazette notice reads.
The seven nominees' names were forwarded by Chief Justice Martha Koome, who is also the chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Wednesday last week for further action by the President.
Following the appointment, the seven nominees are expected to take the oath of office any day from now.
JSC interviewed the judges
While forwarding the names to the President, Koome said after the JSC Panel interviewed all the applicants and it 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 Constitutional imperative of merit, gender, regional balance, affirmative action, and public interest the 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 seven nominees will occupy the positions which should have been occupied by the six judges who President Kenyatta rejected in 2019 sparking a liturgy of litigations in different courts.
The appointed judges are heading different courts in the various stations across the country.
Justice Kimaru heads Kitale Law courts while justice Mativo moves to the second highest court from Mombasa where he was heading the station.
Lady Justice Achode ascends to her new position from being the principal judge at Milimani Law court. A principal judge supervises all the other judges of the High court.
Justice Ngenye moves from the criminal division of the High court Nairobi where she was heading the appeals division.
Aroni Abida Ali is currently heading the Wajir Law Courts while justice Fred Ochieng moves from Kisumu.
