• Odunga, who is the presiding judge at the High Court in Machakos, holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi.
• He studied for his Diploma in Law at the Kenya School of Law in 1994.
Image: FILE
Justice George Vincent Odunga has since his appointment to the High Court braved intense criticism over some of his radical rulings that reversed Executive decisions.
However, despite the attacks from his critics, he has remained unshakeable while discharging his duties as a judge.
Odunga, who is currently the presiding judge at the High Court in Machakos, holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi. He studied for his Diploma in Law at the Kenya School of Law in 1994.
Judge Odunga was admitted to the Roll of Advocates in 1995. He served for 16 years as a legal practitioner. Before joining the judicial service, he practised as an Advocate at Rajn K. Somaiya between 1995 and 2001 before moving on to join Behan and Okero Advocates as a partner, serving from 2002 to 2011, when he was appointed judge of the High Court. He has training in Enhancing Maritime Law Jurisprudence in Kenya.
Odunga has previously been honoured for his stellar performance. Before being transferred to Machakos in April 2018, he headed the Judicial Review Division of the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi.
The division was recognised as the most efficient. A report by the Judiciary Performance Management and Measurement Evaluation showed the Judicial Review division, which he headed at the Milimani law courts, heard and determined cases more efficiently and faster than other High Court stations.
"Justice Odunga's division was rated the best performing High Court station in terms of service delivery. Despite having more than 500 initiated cases, the report found that judges in the division were able to determine them within 60 days after final submissions," the report said.
His name hit the headlines when he nullified a Sh2.5 billion tender awarded to a Dubai-based firm for printing ballot papers for the 2017 polls.
Together with justices Joel Ngugi and John Mativo, Odunga quashed the decision of the Independent and Electoral and Boundaries Commission to award the tender for the printing of election materials to Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing Limited and ordered the commission to commence afresh the procurement process for the award of the tender.
The three-judge bench found that the IEBC failed to facilitate sufficient public participation in the award of the tender and the failure made the award constitutionally weak.
Odunga and a team of other Judges also nullified sections of the controversial security laws, including powers for the spy agency to carry out special operations to avert terror attacks. The decisions put him at odds with Jubilee politicians, who accused him of partisanship and judicial activism. The Court of Appeal upheld their decision in its entirety, thus easing the pressure on him.
At one point, Garissa Township MP Adan Duale, who was then the National Assembly Majority leader, threatened to file a motion to discuss Odunga’s conduct. The lawmaker Duale accused the judge of bias, saying he was issuing directives that favoured Cord—then the Minority coalition that brought together former Prime Minister Raila Odinga-led ODM, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka-led-Wiper and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula-led Ford Kenya.
This year, Odunga has once again been in the eye of another storm. He was part of a five-judge bench that threw into disarray President Uhuru Kenyatta’s push to overhaul the country’s governance structure through constitutional amendments under the Building Bridges Initiative.
Odunga, Ngugi, Jairus Ngaah, Teresia Matheka and Chacha Mwita declared the process unconstitutional and blocked the electoral agency from holding a referendum on the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
A few weeks later, President Uhuru Kenyatta, while gazetting the appointment of judges who had been recommended by the Judicial Service Commission, left out High Court judges Ngugi, Odunga, Weldon Korir and Aggrey Muchelule, as well as chief magistrate Evans Makori and High Court registrar Judith Omange. Uhuru apointed 34 judges.
Odunga was among those to be promoted to the Court of Appeal. The matter is currently being challenged in court.
Uhuru has been condemned for leaving out the judges. Notable among those who have spoken up are Chief Justice emeritus Willy Mutunga and David Maraga.
Mutunga said the presidents' objection to the six judges' nomination was driven by personal resentment and not principle.
"The scientific formulation in the Constitution on the appointment of judges was intended to be an antidote to this kind of whimsical and capricious presidential conduct as is being seen in ugly display in this matter," Mutunga said in a letter addressed to Uhuru.
Maraga said Uhuru was wrong to reject the names of the six judges, adding that the names first given to the Judicial Service Commission of appointees whose integrity was being questioned by the Executive had changed.
It remains to be seen whether Justice Odunga will weather the storm.