Hard Task Ahead of Proposed New Chief Justice David Maraga

The newly proposed Chief Justice was announced yesterday by the Judiciary Service Commission. Justice David Maranga was declared by the JSC as the best candidate among the rest to fill in the seat of the Chief Justice. The JSC has acted honorably and in good faith in appointing the new CJ. It is therefore critical that Justice Maranga who has been proposed to sit at the helm of the judiciary be a leader who is not only alive to our national aspirations, values and beliefs but also totally sold out to the same.

The Chief Justice is a critical office in Kenya. The Judiciary which Justice Maraga may end up leading has a central role in the individual and collective lives of Kenyans. The courts in Kenya have become the ultimate hope in almost all matters of our social lives. The proposed CJ will be heading the courts which play the more serious role of law making through their rulings. Unlike laws made in Parliament, court rulings become almost universal points of reference. Most controversial issues such as abortion and incest have been determined by courts. An example is the ruling passed by our High Court last month that sex between cousins is not incest yet most Kenyan communities considers that as a taboo. It is therefore essential for the Head of Judiciary to adopt core values and beliefs of our country.