A judge yesterday told the JSC she delivered two conflicting rulings because she had “a lot of matters to handle and did not check on the parties in the ruling before reading”.
Maureen Onyango, the presiding judge of Employment and Labour Relations Court had been accused of making contradicting decisions on two occasions.
She said one of her court assistants passed to her a different copy of the judgment but she informed the parties and read the correct one immediately she realised there had been an error.
“I realised later that I had read a wrong decision because I had a lot of matters to handle and I did not check on the parties in the ruling before reading, but I managed to reach the parties and read the correct one,” she told JSC commissioners.
Onyango was responding during the ongoing Court of Appeal judge interviews which started on Monday. Chief Justice David Maraga chairs the selection panel.
She told the JSC she is fit for the job and that her appointment would add value to the Court of Appeal because of her experience in the labour disputes court.
In a separate incident, an advocate seeking to join the Court of Appeal was at pains to explain why he withheld his client’s money.
Elijah Ireri denied the four accusations brought against him for withholding clients’ money.
He, however, admitted that case was settled after he found out that a cheque had not been sent to a client.
He told the JSC that he had never been made aware of the accusations and that he learnt of the complaints in the interview.
The exercise was held in camera after Chief Justice David Maraga kicked the media out of the boardroom.
Justice Weldon Korir (High Court), followed by Justice Olao Boaz (High Court), Elijah Ireri, Justice Maureen Onyango (Labour Court) were interviewed on Tuesday.
Thirty-five candidates were shortlisted by the JSC and have been lined up for interview between June 17 and July 1.
JSC has been interviewing four candidates every day.
The Court of Appeal has an approved limit of 30 judges, but only has 19.
The number will reduce later this year when two senior Court of Appeal judges, Erastus Githinji and Alnashir Visram retire.
The candidates include High Court and Labour Court judges as well as lawyers who meet the criteria stipulated in the constitution.
The other interviewees include Kariuki Mwangi, George Odunga (High Court), and Justice Stephen Radido (Labour Court).
High Court judges Abida Ali-Aroni, Msagha Mbogholi, Aggrey Muchelule, and Mumbi Ngugi were interviewed by the commission on June 17.
