NAIROBI, KENYA: The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) could soon begin hiring foreign judges, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has suggested as he questioned the integrity of Kenyan lawyers seeking to join the bench.
Mr Mutunga disclosed that although many lawyers were vocal in attacking appointments to the bench, some were incapable of becoming judges.
The CJ chairs the judicial commission that recently recruited 25 lawyers to become judges. However, the President confirmed only 11 nominees.
"Before we start debating whether or not to aggressively seek candidates from the Commonwealth, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) owes itself and its members a candid discussion on why so few of its members are unable to meet the competence and integrity threshold required of judges," said Mutunga.
He said when JSC advertised 70 vacancies, it faced immense difficulty filling 30 slots for the environmental and lands divisions of the Kenyan court system for lack of integrity and competence. He said only 16 qualified for the positions.
Mutunga, who spoke at LSK's annual conference on Friday evening, argued that besides fighting internal reform in the Judiciary, many lawyers in Kenya were under investigation by the Ombudsman for corruption.
He said JSC could hardly find enough lawyers to fill 70 advertised slots to join the bench.
Mutunga accused lawyers of fostering corruption and attempting to subvert judges with inducements, saying they were routinely trying to "cut corners (and) attempting to influence judicial officers".
"So although JSC has advertised 70 vacancies, 30 for the environmental division and land, and 40 for the High Court, it has not been able to recruit 30. The catchment area, the market for goods of merchantable quality, cannot throw up even half the requirement," he said.
Mutunga said transformation in the Judiciary was being fought internally, adding that he underestimated resistance to changes in the sector when he joined it several years ago.
Mutunga criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta's failure to appoint all the 25 judges nominated by JSC early this year, saying gazetting only 11 had not addressed the shortage of judges. He accused some lawyers of opposing the appointment of some of the judges.
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