Judge Daniel Ogembo was set to take his wife on a holiday in the United States in September.
Ogembo had told his colleagues his choice of September for travel was because his three children would be a way in school.
At the same time, he was applying to the Judicial Service Commission to be elevated to the Court of Appeal. But God had other thoughts.
The judge was found dead in his official residence in Siaya on July 17. He had been serving as the presiding judge at the High Court in the town since February last year.
His colleague Anne Koros said the judge was meticulous in his work, planned way ahead of time and had cleared his workload for the trip.
“I was planning to go on leave in July and the judge told me to take early July so that he could take his in September and take his wife Grace to the US,” she said.
In preparation for his impending trip, Ogembo had cleared the case backlog he found upon taking over from judge Roselyne Aburili.
“We had called his staff to compile for him the details of his work, which showed that he had cleared 253 files, including the 247 files that judge Aburili had left for him,” Koros said.
“My sister, see I have cleared the backlog. I think I’m fit to move to the Court of Appeal,” Koros recounted the conversation with the late judge days to his death.
Ogembo had worked for most of the day on July 16 before he retired home alone. His official driver dropped him at his residence.
But when the driver went to pick him up the next day as usual, the judge did not respond to calls and texts.
The driver sought help to access the house, where the body was found.
Police said the driver informed them Ogembo had complained he was not feeling well on July 16 before he went to bed.
Ogembo was admitted to the bar in 1993 and worked in private practice until 2004 when he was appointed a magistrate. He was elevated to judge of the High Court in 2016.
Judge Judy Omange, who served as registrar at Milimani law courts when Ogembo served as chief magistrate and head of station, said the man liked order and deferred to the authority of his seniors.
“As chief magistrate and head of station leading over 30 to 50 magistrates, and over 30 judges, he loved order and always deferred to presiding judge despite himself being the head of the station at Milimani. He respected his seniors and wanted work to flow without unnecessary confusion,” Omange said.