Dr Mutunga went through a thorough vetting process because under the new Constitution, the next CJ had the burden of restoring sanity into a Judiciary that had sunk to the realm of blatant corruption, inefficiency and injustice.
As it is said charity begins at home, Dr Mutunga knew the Judiciary would not give justice to anyone if it denied its own employees justice.
“These are many of those stories that kept me amused but also they were inspiring in the sense that this judicial culture has to be humanised so that people feel all wakubwas (bosses) are like demigods. If you don’t give justice to the people you work with at the Judiciary how can I tell you that I will give you justice if I am not treating the cleaners properly or even the secretaries and when you become aloof and bewildered,” he wondered.
The revolting working conditions became his anchor point to embark on a journey of complex and comprehensive reforms that would make every judicial staff member to feel appreciated and motivated.
Under the theme of ‘humanising the judiciary’ the Chief Justice spearheaded a team that implemented an internal framework to review salaries, promote deserving staff and give better working conditions including insurance covers and loan services.
Dr Mutunga throughout the interview refused to blow his own trumpet.
Reforms at the Judiciary, he said, were a collective effort, which gave him the conviction that even after his exit the ‘ship’ would still sail through.
“The moment the ship faced the right direction and we felt that the foundations were firm and were irreversible, I basically felt that’s what I could achieve. I find the culture of personality very despicable, people thinking that everything has to be done by one person. It was not just me, we were so many of us. Even people saying that I am jumping ship; that I am leaving a bus that is burning, there are structures and there are other people.”
What is important for the Judiciary and the next CJ, he advised, was to ensure that the process of reforms should continue in the right direction without stalling.
“I have always said that’s not the end, we have just laid foundations whether the termites will eat the foundation whether people will reverse but we wanted to lay firm foundation for the Judiciary.”
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