The appeal court has directed the Judicial Service Commission to ensure that they comply with the two-thirds gender rule when recruiting judicial officers.
“The 1st respondent was required to take progressive steps to ensure that the two-thirds gender principle is attained in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court Advisory Opinion No 2 of 2012,” the court ruled.
The court further said 12 years after promulgation of the Constitution, there is a responsibility on the part of JSC to ensure that in the exercise of its mandate of recruitment, the two thirds gender principle is complied with.
In the case, lawyer Adrian Kamotho had challenged the constitution of the Supreme Court in 2017 saying it didn’t meet the two thirds gender rule because there were two females and five male.
The court said the interpretation of Article 27(6) and (8) of the Constitution is that there can be no more than four members of one gender in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has since added one female with the appointment of CJ Martha Koome to the bench making it three females and four females.
In last week list of judges who have been recommended for appointments, the JSC has given 8 slots to women and 12 to men.
