JSC nominates Justice Ouko for Supreme Court judge

Appeal Judge William Ouko has been nominated as Supreme Court judge.

The Judicial Service Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed on his nomination.

Ouko's name has been forwarded to President Uhuru Kenyatta for appointment.

He will join the court to replace Justice Jackton Ojwang who retired in February last year.

The JSC had shortlisted all the nine candidates who applied for the position.

Those who applied to join the apex court include Justice Ouko and his Court of Appeal colleagues Koome, Kathurima M'Inoti, High Court judges Joseph Sergon and Chitembwe, Prof Lumumba Nyaberi, Ms Yano and Justices Marete and Nderi.

However, judge Kathurima withdrew his candidature while justice Koome also automatically became disqualified because she was nominated as CJ.

Justice Ouko was appointed a Court of Appeal judge in 2012.

He became the President of the Court of Appeal on March 9, 2018, after he was elected overwhelmingly by fellow judges.

Justice Ouko served in the High Court from 2004 to 2012.

During that time, he served in Malindi, Meru and Nakuru.

Before being appointed as high court judge he was registrar of the high court between 2002 and 2004. He also served as the pioneer Chief Court Administrator.

Currently, he is chairperson of various committees in the justice sector such as the subcommittee of the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) to monitor the administrative and contingency management plan to mitigate Covid-19 in Kenya’s Justice Sector- 2020 and the Core Organizing Committee the 3rd Regional Symposium on Greening the Judiciaries in Africa, which was to be held between 4th and 6th August 2020, in Nairobi, Kenya, but for coronavirus pandemic.

He studied for his bachelor’s degree at the University of Nairobi and a Masters at Egerton university.