Search for new CJ starts as Gicheru leaves

By Athman Amran As Chief Justice Evan Gicheru’s eight-year term in office officially ends today and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has moved fast to advertise the vacant position.
The advertisement to fill Gicheru’s position is expected to be in Monday or Tuesday newspapers.
"A committee of four members is working on the format of the advertisements and by Monday or Tuesday the advertisements will be in newspapers," a member of the JSC Ahmednassir Abdillahi said on Saturday.
Gicheru leaves office on a defiant note after he and Attorney General Amos Wako upset President Kibaki and his PNU loyalists by refusing to endorse the four nominees to the constitutional offices.
The two said the JSC had to be involved in the nominations as stipulated in the Constitution.
President Kibaki backed down on Tuesday in favour of the involvement of the JSC in the appointment of the CJ.
Kibaki’s surprise move followed the opposition by Gicheru, Wako, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his loyal ODM MPs, the Constitution Implementation Committee, courts, the civil society and members of the diplomatic corps.
The advertisement of the top job would hopefully usher in a new and transparent era in the appointment of the CJ making Gicheru the ‘last’ presidential or political appointee in independent Kenya.
And for the first time, the new office bearer will have a deputy whose position will also be advertised at the same time through the JSC.
Abdillahi told The Standard on Sunday that the Commission will also advertise for positions of five judges of the Supreme Court, which is also a requirement in the Constitution.
A new CJ is expected to be in office in the next two months as interested applicants will have 21 days to hand in their papers.
The decision by the JSC follows a two-day induction seminar of the commission’s members.
The team is also expected to elect a deputy chair to take the place of Gicheru who has been chairing the committee until another CJ is appointed.
Nomination saga
The out going CJ did not attend the two-day seminar, which ended on Saturday. Wako, who missed out on Friday attended Saturday’s workshop as an ex-officio member.
The last time Gicheru chaired the JSC was three weeks back when he and Wako appended their signatures in a statement dismissing President Kibaki’s nominations of the CJ, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the AG and the Controller of Budget.
The nominations saga began when Raila rejected President Kibaki’s nomination of Appeal Judge Alnashir Visram as the new CJ and lawyers Githu Muigai as AG and Kioko Kilukumi as the DPP. The President also nominated Mr William Kirwa as the Controller of Budget.