Kenya is ripe for a woman Chief Justice

Since Kenya became a republic in 1964 we have had 14 Chief Justices, all of them men. Since the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 the Supreme Court has been constituted in violation of the law, specifically Art. 27(8) that mandates that “not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.”

Effectively, the apex judicial court, the one entrusted with the role of upholding the supremacy of the Constitution, as well as its final interpretation has continued to exist in violation of the supreme law. It is time that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) cured this blatant illegality and ensured that its recruitment for the positions of Chief Justice and Judge of the Supreme Court result in a constitutionally compliant Supreme Court, one whose membership is not super majority male in violation of the maximum gender representation dictated by the Constitution.