Beyond his 40 years’ experience in the practice of law, Ngatia will be brandishing his freshly minted masters in applied philosophy to prove that a CJ needs a multidisciplinary approach.
Justice Nderi’s most famous defence of workers was in a 30 June 2015 judgment; for a few months thereafter, Justice Nderi was the darling of the teaching fraternity after he awarded teachers a 50 to 60 per cent increment on their basic salary.
Wekesa’s attempt to join the Supreme Court will likely be checked by the fact that the region already has a judge from his ethnicity in the person of Smokin Wanjala.
Yano comes to the interview with a tacit regional claim to the Supreme Court seat previously occupied by Justice Philip Tunoi, who retired in 2016.
Two political hurdles stand in her way in her quest to become Chief Justice, or in the alternate, to join the Supreme Court. Conventional wisdom would argue the likelihood of the two top jobs in the judiciary being held by women, given that acting Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu is already in post as Deputy Chief Justice.
Justice Chitembwe’s strongest suit will be that he is the only contender from the coastal region seeking a senior position in the judiciary.
Should he seek to claim special consideration as the only judge from Tharaka Nithi seeking a senior judicial appointment, he will have to contend with arguments that the former Eastern Province already has a judge in the Supreme Court in the person of the Deputy Chief Justice
As a former government insider, Murgor will be attractive to executive-minded members of the Judicial Service Commission hoping to break the traditional relationships between lawyers in private practice and judicial officers thought to frustrate government agenda.
Although Kameri-Mbote towers over the other applicants because of her academic pedigree, her lack of bench experience in the Judiciary, as well as anxieties about gender and regional balance could complicate her ascendancy to the Chief Justice’s position
Although Justice Ouko, born in Siaya, is regarded as a distant relation of opposition leader and four-time presidential candidate Raila Odinga, some perceive him as not being a ‘good Luo’ for not visibly playing ally in ethnic politics.