• Murgor thinks that if Koome continues with her non-confrontational approach, she may achieve more in her 10-year tenure than many would expect.
• Murgor said it was critical for Koome to sustain judicial reforms to weed out corruption that impede access to justice in the country.
Image: /WILFRED NYANGARESI
When Chief Justice Martha Koome approved of and attended the swearing-in of the 34 judges at State House in June, social media was harsh on her and unforgiving.
Pundits, including senior lawyers, caricatured her as a weak state apologist who had ceded the authority of the Judiciary to the Executive.
But senior counsel Philip Murgor thinks differently. He told the Star in an interview that the new Judiciary boss was “on the right course” and that her approach in delivering on her mandate is “extremely temperate, considerate and measured.”
Murgor thinks that if Koome continues with her non-confrontational approach, she may achieve more in her 10-year tenure than many would expect.
Koome came into office in May at the height of public pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint the 40 judges who had been recommended for installation by the Judicial Service Commission in 2019.
The subject dominated interviews for the Chief Justice position. Uhuru had declined to appoint them, citing undisclosed intelligence reports that allegedly adversely characterised some of them.
Koome had pledged to engage in diplomacy to persuade Uhuru to appoint them and barely a month into office, the President appointed 34 out of the 40 judges.
Those left out were High Court judges Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga, Weldon Korir and Prof Joel Ngugi, who were to join the Court of Appeal. Others were chief magistrate Makori Evans Kiago and High Court Registrar Judith Omange, who had been promoted by the JSC to serve as High Court judges.
The CJ attended the swearing-in ceremony for the judges at State House, amid calls from other quarters for her to boycott the event.
Some even suggested that the appointed judges ought to have rejected the positions until their six colleagues were also gazetted.
Though she issued a statement protesting the cherry-picking of the judges, media commentaries sharply contrasted her with her predecessors David Maraga and Willy Mutunga, who gave public interviews and writings sharply attacking the President.
But reflecting on Koome’s 100 days period in office, Murgor, who also contended for the CJ position during recruitment, said she had succeeded in training her focus on what was important and avoided distractions.
On the harsh review on Koome’s decision to embrace Uhuru's appointments and her performance in office so far, Murgor said the CJ “should ignore Twitter advocates who have a predictable tendency to bully judges when they lose a case and praise them when they win.”
“The CJ was right on her approach on the issue of the appointment of the judges. As you will remember, all the candidates in the CJ interviews committed to engage in some form of diplomacy and dialogue to get the stalemate sorted. So she kept her word,” he said.
“She has also been measured in rolling out her vision three months later. She took her time.”
A cautious Murgor, however, said that it was premature to give a conclusive review of Koome’s performance given that she has a decade-long tenure at the helm of the Judiciary.
“The jury is still out,” he said.
Murgor, however, said that despite her temperate approach to issues, Koome should stand guard “against any attempt to compromise the independence and integrity of the Judiciary and the rule of law.”
“The administration of justice is an important pillar for a country that hopes to grow and prosper. All those practising must protect the Judiciary, ensure obedience to court orders and protect the rule of law.”
He said asserting the impartiality of the courts was critical because “the 2007 violence was caused by a feeling that it was pointless to go to court.”
Murgor said it was critical for Koome to sustain judicial reforms to weed out corruption that impedes access to justice in the country.
Law society wrangles
On the persisting wrangles at the Law Society of Kenya, Murgor said the senior counsels’ bar had “washed their hands of the matter” because “observers of that space realised that nothing can be done to salvage the situation.”
The law society’s top leadership has been on a bitter warring path since last September, with its president Nelson Havi attempting to expel non-compliant council members.
Havi and his team’s term is ending in February next year, when a fresh election for the organisation is due.
“The senior counsels' bar, led by chairman Fred Ojiambo, has done its best to try and resolve the wrangles. Others, like John Ohanga and [former CJ] Willy Mutunga offered to mediate but one side refused. Not many are now willing to be involved,” he said.
2022 elections
Murgor said he was concerned that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission had left early political campaigns to be the norm, saying this would be a recipe for tension in the electioneering period.
If the trend of early campaigns becomes institutionalised, he said, expectations of various political constituencies get heightened unnecessarily and tension rises, which forms the perfect breeding ground for violence.
“I appeal to my good friend [IEBC chairman Wafula] Chebukati to reign in this practice. He must stand up to be counted and ensure that politicians give Kenyans space to engage in meaningful socio-economic life,” he said.
“He can disqualify politicians doing early campaigns. He has the law on his side.”
Murgor said he has completely de-linked himself from politics and wants to focus on his professional private legal practice up to the foreseeable future.
“I’m fully into professional practice now,” he said, adding that it was too early to declare who he’d vote for president.
On the choice of the next president, the father of four believes that all candidates should be judged on their track record, especially on the ability to bring people from diverse ethnic extractions together to deal with the problem of ethnic exclusion in the country.
“The country needs a uniting force, not a winner-take-it-all mindset. Kenyans must look for the practitioner, not one promising that,” he said.
He said the country has nearly been to the brink due to ethnic exclusion.
Edited by A.N