"We were looking for candidates who will lead by example the Judiciary as the third arm of government; Persons of great depth of legal and constitutional leaning, whose integrity is both impeccable and beyond reproach and who have a record of independence,"
read the statement by Judicial Service Commission acting chairperson Prof Christine Mango while announcing the nomination of Dr Willy Mutunga as the next Chief Justice of Kenya and Nancy Baraza as deputy Chief Justice.
Prof Mango added: "In these two candidates, the Commission has seen the attributes and the vision we were looking for when we started the interview process. They are a man and a woman we can trust the Judiciary with."
Additionally the two nominees received praises from almost every quarter of the country with the International Centre for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) saying the nominees possessed outstanding reform credentials and demonstrated courageous stand in the fight for change.
The nominees were endorsed by the various arms of Government and were subsequently appointed to their various respective offices where they promised to undertake numerous judicial reforms to ensure Kenyans have access to expeditious and fair justice.
However, eight months later, Baraza’s conduct has come under the spotlight after she allegedly threatened security guard Rebecca Kerubo at a city mall.
This prompted the initiation of an investigation by JSC into Baraza’s conduct whose findings led to JSC sending a petition to the president with a view of suspending Justice Nancy Baraza as a judge of the Supreme Court and Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya and appoint a tribunal to investigate her conduct.
Approximately, two decades ago Baraza joined hands with Aaron Ringera,Phillip Kandie, and Nesbitt Onyango to seek orders to have Paul Muite, then LSK chair, barred from releasing “political” statements on behalf of the legal fraternity.
Ironically the other person sued with Muite was Willy Mutunga, the current CJ, and lawyer Mr Japheth Shamalla, current chairman of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Mr Charles Nyachae and current Gichugu MP Martha Karua among others.
The Baraza group wanted this group sent to jail for contempt of court after they defied orders issued by Justice Norbury Dugdale and Mr Justice Joseph Amonde Mango, barring them from making political statements.
When history came to haunt her during the parliamentary vetting exercise and the question was thrown to her, Baraza said she was then naive and wanted to save the legal body from being proscribed by President Moi.
During last year’s Mashujaa Day celebrations, Baraza allegedly had a disagreement with protocol officers after she insisted that her seat should have been placed next to that of the CJ.
These are just but some of the past controversies that have come to haunt Baraza and have clearly depicted the type of person she is as she has to some extent failed to promote public confidence in the integrity of her office.
So as we wait for President Mwai Kibaki to suspend Baraza and appoint a tribunal to investigate her, the questions that ligers is whether she was really suitable to handle the Deputy Chief Justice office?
The writer is SAR's Reforms and Advocacy Reporter
