• On Wednesday, the High Court issued orders to halt the process of recruiting a new Chief Justice.
• Charo claims commissioner Patrick Gichohi is not supposed to be sitting on the commission as he allegedly retired from public service.
Image: COURTESY
A petitioner has said that if the Judicial Service Commission is allowed to continue recruiting the next Chief Justice, there is a risk of the process being challenged in court.
Memba Charo is one of four petitioners who sought orders to stop the process. The orders to stop the process of recruiting a new CJ were issued by the High Court on Wednesday.
Charo argues that the commission is not properly constituted to carry out the recruitment process. He says commissioner Patrick Gichohi is not supposed to be sitting on the commission as he allegedly retired from public service.
“Patrick Gichohi, the purported representative of the Public Service Commission, is a stranger in the commission following his retirement from the public service. He is not a proper representative of the Public Service Commission in the commission,” Charo says.
Charo was responding to the JSC's appeal, which will be heard on Monday before the Court of Appeal.
The JSC wants the court to stay the orders of the High Court, arguing that there might be a legal crisis if the process of recruiting the Chief Justice is not completed before the time provided in law.
The commission says the orders run the risk of offending the provision, which states that any vacancy in the office of the Chief Justice must be filled within six months from January 12.
But through lawyer Danstan Omari, Charo has challenged the appeal, saying there is a need for the recruitment process to be lawful and constitutional.
“They balanced the need for JSC to proceed with the impugned process and/or interviews for the candidates suitable for the position of the office of the Chief Justice as was scheduled and only prevented the start of the process of the interviews for candidates who wished to serve as a judge of the Supreme Court until the petition is heard and determined,” Charo argues.
He says the process should be acceptable to Kenyans to give the court and the CJ appointed legitimacy and acceptance by the people, as was the appointment of the last two former CJs.
“Further to avert the court’s rejection by the people as it was in 2007 when Raila Odinga discredited the court following the contentious 2007 presidential elections,” the court papers read.
Charo says the three-judge bench acted fairly and were careful in their deliberate design of their orders to the JSC.
He also challenges Olive Mugenda's role in chairing the commission during the process, saying it should be acting CJ Philomena Mwilu and not her.