• Judge Marete says he is the man of the moment and Kenyans have spoken saying he is the man for the job.
• He described himself as a result-oriented judge and a daring person.
Image: OZONE
Employment and Labour Relations Court judge David Marete Njagi says he is the man Kenya is looking for to be the next Chief Justice.
Marete says he will be the first Chief Justice with the INFJ personality type from the Myers-Briggs Test. Only one per cent of the world’s population are INFJs, he said. INFJ stands for introverted, intuitive, feeling and judging.
“It would be extraordinary to hire me as a CJ, which will show people that it is indeed possible,” he said.
He told the commission during his interview that the INFJ personality type makes him the best leader.
“INFJ’s are the best leaders, but they usually don’t go after the positions of leadership,” he said.
The judge said he got to know his personality a few years back which makes him a special kind of person who is extraordinary making it hard for him to relate with everybody well.
He described himself as a result-oriented judge and a daring person.
Marete said he is the man of the moment and Kenyans have spoken saying he is the man for the job.
"The voice of Kenyans is all over the air. It's Marete they want. This is the man. The voice of Kenya," the judge said.
However, the issue of his character was brought up after it emerged that he has had several complaints filed at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on the choice of his drivers. Most times, they would leave after a day with him.
Marete said he has had trouble with the police drivers normally allocated to judges, saying the officers were too impatient.
“One lasted a day with me; another lasted a week while the best lasted three months. They are impatient I don’t know why they leave,” he said.
He explained to the JSC that he always preferred to have his civilian driver Peter Mwangi due to health issues and his disability.
He raised the issue with the Judiciary, requesting that they hire Mwangi as his driver. The Judiciary hired him on contract for a year but the same was terminated.
The judge was forced to pay his own driver for four years, the JSC was told.
Marete says the drivers assigned to him need to understand his character, especially the fact that he cannot drive due to his health.
He was also confronted on why he chose his spouse as his personal aide to which he cited medical considerations.
Justice Marete said he needs company every time due to his medical issues.
He said he is visually impaired and was assessed and given a card in 2015 showing he is a person living with a disability.
However, Justice Warsame brought up the issue that his disability card shows he is visual-mental. He asked Marete if it’s true that he has mental issues.
Marete said the word mental on his card was an oversight because during the assessment he told them he had hypoglycaemia, but they decided to put his case as mental.
On why he did not change his disability card, the judge said he has been very busy with work, adding that he saw it as a non-issue.
“I have over 340 leave days, I am a workaholic and that is what I term as peripheral issues. It never occurred to me that I should change it, but I am going to amend it, in fact, tomorrow,” he said.
The judge was also confronted with claims of being high-handed with court staff.
There was an incident where he arrested and punished a court staff for making noise along the court corridors when he was hearing matters.
In his defense, the judge said the issue of noise-making was recurrent for six months and that officers tried to handle it using other mechanisms but nothing changed.
“There was noise along the corridors and I was not able to continue, so I sent a clerk to bring the person making noise and he was finally charged with contempt,” he said.
“If you read the ruling clearly you would appreciate that this is not a one-day matter but one that had gone on for six months. The chief magistrates had taken steps to fight this menace and it would not go away. So for a long time, we had this issue, and it was not going to go away. We cannot sustain this.”
The judge was also compelled to explain why he used a judgment in his own case against the Teachers Service Commission as authority in a different case that involved Maasai Mara University.
While quoting the TSC judgment, he had referred to the judge who made the decision as a good friend of his and a brother.
Justice Marete said he is a student of literature and issues of perception would not arise on his use of language.
“It’s a question of expression throughout our jurisprudence. I haven’t found anyone who had good determination on retirement. It was beautiful and nice. I'm a student of literature and I believe in expression. It could be an issue if you are a simpleton,” he said.
On his leadership skills, he says his track record speaks for himself. He says the commission should go to his Chuka farm and see how he takes care of his two cows or his coffee. He says that goes to show that he is capable.
Though he has not served in a big office, Marete said his past work at Sheria House speaks for itself and given the chance to be CJ, he is equal to the task.
He told the panel he has a record of working hard to clear 47 cases in a month.
Judge Marete said due to his ability to deliver at Sheria House, he was known as a celebrity.
“I was a celebrity in terms of performance at the Sheria House,” the judge said.
He told the commission that if given the job, he would ensure the Judiciary operations are fully digitised.
He also promised to tackle the problem of understaffing at the Judiciary.
He said the 41 judges whose swearing-in never happened after President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed reservations should already be working to ensure the delivery of justice to Kenyans.
Marete said if chosen, his first assignment would be on the issue of 41 judges.
“On my first day in office, I will sit with the Chief Registrar of Judiciary and the Deputy Chief Justice so that we resolve the stalemate,” the judge said.
“Why would we not come up with a way forward with the CRJ and the deputy CJ in order to resolve the issue?
He said he will also engage the Executive through dialogue and diplomacy to ensure the judges are sworn in.
However, when asked by Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu about the years the current strategic plan covers, Marete said he does not know.
The current strategic plan covers 2018-21.
Asked why his private practice only lasted 11 months before he sought employment, the judge said private practice is not his cup of tea because he is a public servant.
“I realised I was not a politician, so I came back to pursue my profession. I have always known I am not a practitioner. There are so many things I can do with law but not as a practitioner. I have my limitations. Private legal practice is not my thing,” the judge said.
He gave examples of first-time ministers in the Jomo Kenyatta regime, saying despite being young and having no experience they did their work.
“I don’t see any link between being a CJ and a legal practitioner. This is a public office that any leader can do, particularly if you are fast.”
“In the first Parliament most Cabinet ministers were in their 30s, but we walked through. Jomo Kenyatta was a freedom fighter and not a President before but we walked through. To gauge what I am capable of doing, look at my work at Sheria House. We have not been to these big offices because no one has given us the opportunity,” he said.
When given the chance to be CJ, he said, he will learn quickly, he said.
On why he did not attach his wife’s wealth declaration forms, the judge told the commission that his wife, who retired from the Judiciary three years ago, does not make any income.
He told the commission that they are a very transparent family and in the 38 years that his wife has worked in the Judiciary and his over eight years, none of their children have been taken to work there.
Edited by A.N