Former Chief Justice Evans Gicheru has passed away. In an official announcement, Chief Justice David Maraga said Gicheru will be remembered for his role in entrenching judicial independence in Kenya, ending the tradition where the judiciary took instructions form the executive in the discharge of its daily functions.
The late Gicheru joined the judiciary as a judge of the High Court in 1982, and was appointed as a judge of the Court of Appeal six years later. He was appointed Kenya’s Chief Justice on February 21, 2003, and he retired from the position on February 2011.
“Justice Gicheru rendered his services in many other capacities. Perhaps the most famous, and for what he will forever be remembered, was his role as the chairperson of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the disappearance and subsequent death of Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Ouko. His firmness and resolute management of the inquiry led to the disbandment of the Commission before it could publish its findings,” said Maraga.
He said Kenya and the Judiciary have lost a steadfast public servant, a selfless professional, and humble human being.