With the swearing-in of 20 new High Court judges on Wednesday, the spotlight has been turned onto Chief Justice Martha Koome in regards to justice delivery.
The Judiciary had been riddled with a backlog of cases due to understaffing amidst claims of corruption.
Senior counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi says the CJ now has no excuse why justice cannot be dispensed expeditiously.
"Twenty new judges is a massive number. Koome must now share with Kenyans how she will deliver to Kenyans corruption-free justice, expeditiously, efficiently and clear the backlog. We must hold her to verifiable deliverables," Abdullahi said.
On Tuesday, President William Ruto appointed the 20 High Court judges who were nominated by the Judicial Service Commission last week.
The President presided over their swearing-in on Wednesday at State House, Nairobi with a plea for them to serve Kenyans with integrity.
Ruto said the judiciary is expected to be dignified and respected to promote the values of the country.
“I do not doubt that you have what it takes to do, discharge and live up to your oath of office,” he said.
The judges bring to 60, the number of new judges that have been sworn-in since June last year.
On June 4, 2021, former President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed 34 new judges out of the 40 that had been appointed by the JSC.
He rejected the nomination of six other appellate judges citing lack of integrity on their part.
However, hours after taking the oath of office on September 13, Ruto appointed the judges and presided over their oath-taking ceremony the following day at State House.
They are Weldon Korir, Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga and Joel Ngugi of Court of Appeal and Evans Makori and Elizabeth Omange of the Environment and Land court.
Uhuru left office without revealing exactly what integrity issues the intelligence service had unearthed about the judges.
