Chief Justice Willy Mutunga marks the end of his first year at the helm of the Judiciary this month.
After a bumpy start in which he was accused of focusing on cosmetic non-issues, he has gone on to sow the seeds for the kind of change Kenyans were hoping for in bringing in an outsider.
There is some way to go, though, before we have the kind of courts necessary to deliver effective justice.
Dr Mutunga was sworn in as CJ on June 20, last year. For better or worse, he has become the symbol of reforms in the Judiciary.
This, we believe, should rally more of those under his leadership behind the idea of change rather than merely personalise the pursuit of transformation.
The risk of the latter outcome is great, as Mutunga came in at a time when the institution was still mired in inefficiency, corruption and ineptitude.
Last week, Mutunga’s team launched a “transformation framework” to take the institution to the next level in reforms.
This is the next step in the changes in the management of the Judiciary’s affairs that are becoming more evident by the day.
The results include a drop in the backlog of cases, better staff morale and improvements in service delivery. For this, every player in the institution deserves commendation.
So do those in Parliament and the Executive who fought to undo the financial throttling that has limited the third arm of Government for so long.
But, as Mutunga admits, elements of the old order still persist, with efforts underway to change it.
Obviously, it will be foolhardy to expect the Judiciary to be fully transformed in a year or two, given the depth of the rot it had sank over the years.
