The Judicial Service Commission of Kenya (JSC) at the beginning of the year advertised for vacancies in the office of the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya and one Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya.
Retired Chief Justice David Maraga demonstrated during his tenure the enormous Constitutional powers the holder of the office of the Chief Justice Wields in our Constitutional democracy. The former Chief Justice proved that indeed the oft stated trinity of Government being in three arms of the “National Executive”, “the Legislature” and the “Judiciary” is not a theoretical proposition but a concrete reality.
So as Kenya starts its momentous season of re-calibration of who heads first the Judiciary and the next year the National Executive (personified by the President) and the Legislature our region must be alert and vigilant and calculating in how this process unfold so that as seems to be the practice we do not to start after the event crying of marginalization when it does not get any of the prized Constitutional offices.
Have our elected leaders, our other stakeholders of the region identified discreetly and lobbied any of their qualified, diligent, capable men and women in the legal profession both the Bar and the Bench to come forward and apply for the two Key appointments advertised by the Judiciary? A region will only be considered if it has applicants who meet the gazetted qualifications. After the period of submitting applications elapses on 10th February 2021 if the region has no applicants it will have to shut up and wait for another five to Ten years when vacancies may arise. Nobody should delude himself or herself in our region that other regions are not fronting their strong candidates so that they compete for the two posts.
Yes we must compete for all jobs in Kenya and banish from our minds this rubbish that we will after the application window period start crying about how this or that tribe is taking all the jobs. We must first have candidates in the race. The interviews will be live on TV so that many people can gauge who ought to have been given the job.
If we have no hunger to fill the key Constitutional offices through active participation then we should shut up and abide by those who apply and get the job. All jobs in Kenya are to be competed for period. Our Constitution demand so.