Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1121401,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1121401/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 146,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, yesterday when we adjourned, I was trying to finish giving historical background on the history of this country on this matter of appointment of judges. I was about to go into the current legal framework governing the appointment of judges. Mr. Speaker Sir, Chapter 10 of our Constitution comprehensively addresses the mechanisms through which judges are appointed. What is being considered in this Statement, is whether the recommendations of JSC are binding to the President or whether he has a discretion to disregard the recommendations of the JSC. I started by disclosing to this House that the JSC is one of the most important bodies or constitutional commissions in our Constitution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you look at the representation, it has men and women of high caliber and credibility who hold senior positions in the country. The membership is eleven. When Kenyans were enacting their Constitution in the year 2010, they were keen to place the responsibility of nominating judges to hon. Kenyans who are up to task in exercising this responsibility. The Chairperson is none other than the Chief Justice (CJ) of the Republic of Kenya. Then there is a judge of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal who are Members. There is also one judge of the high Court who is a member. There is also one magistrate who is a member. What should capture the attention of Kenyans is that because people wanted this process to be as credible and as independent as possible, all these representatives of the Judiciary are elected. So, they are picked in a democratic manner through an election that is conducted by the judges of the various branches of the Judiciary. The Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Magistrates Court do their own elections. The process is in the hands of people who have an independent mind. They are not an appointee of anybody. However, so that the interests of the President are taken care of. There are also some appointees who are members of the JSC. The first one is the Hon. Attorney-General. He is supposed to take care of the interests of the President in the JSC. However, because Kenyans never intended that the President becomes a puppet in this process, the Constitution has also given him a leeway. Article 171(2)(h) of the Constitution allows the President to appoint two Kenyans. He does that single handedly without placing any advertisement in the newspapers. He picks two Kenyans to represent the public in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). That gives him three members. He is also allowed to pick one other appointee from the Public Service Commission (PSC) to sit in the JSC. In total, the President has four representatives who can adequately represent his interests. To give this process more credibility, the legal profession in this country is allowed to pick two nominees. Those nominees are picked through a democratic electoral process. The lawyers know that those elections are normally conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). That is how serious the process of picking commissioners is. Those commissioners are the ones who interview and make recommendations of persons who should be appointed judges. I have said all these so as to demonstrate to this House that the JSC is not just any other body. It is a"
}