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.
Not even the crude radical surgery that got rid of the first lot of corrupt judges (and some innocent ones alongside them) was enough to achieve such change.
It will take years of ever more refined changes and trims before both the people and the culture have changed sufficiently to guarantee a strong, dependable institution.
The Judiciary must stay on the path of reforms. Next year could be testing for this institution should it be called to arbitrate on election disputes. We trust and hope the ongoing changes, including the ongoing vetting of judges and magistrates results in a body ready for the job.
The transformation framework launched on Thursday focuses on the people inside and outside the institution, provides resources and infrastructure for service delivery and employs Information Communication Technology across the board.
That, on the face of it, is a promising strategy for change.
But having it beautifully on paper is one thing and executing it to the satisfaction of the public is a different matter altogether. As the CJ put it on Thursday, reforms alone will not be sufficient; the Judiciary must take the command of the Constitution to reform.
Public participation in the judicial affairs is critical. Mutunga in recent remarks said the public should not bribe judges and magistrates.
That, coming from the head of the institution is an indication the vice is still rife despite the reforms agenda. It’s not enough however, for the CJ to merely plead, the warning should be followed with watertight mechanisms to detect corruption and nip it in the bud.
The Judiciary administration may pledge, as it has, to keep everyone in Kenya within the reach of the law.
But such a pledge can only be kept by ensuring court rulings and judgements are respected and obeyed.
Also, it is desirable the international community knows the Kenyan Judiciary can be trusted to be free, fair and professional.
We laud the CJ for launch of the Judiciary Transformation Framework and his pledge that no decision will be too tough for him to make if that is the price we have to pay to meet the aspirations of Kenyans.
As Mutunga says, the time for testing is past. Now is the time for results. We must transform or perish.
