Judicial Service Commission may have declined to make its reasons for initially shortlisting some and not others but nonetheless, the questions posed at the candidates were telling/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 19 – There is a Swahili saying that ‘Mwenye macho haambiwi tazama’ directly translated to mean he who has eyes is not told to look.
There is a lot that can be garnered regarding the strongest contenders in the race for Chief Justice without looking into a crystal ball; by simply evaluating the interviews.
Perhaps tellingly, the Judiciary’s revised schedule of interviews for the post and those of Deputy Chief Justice and a judge of the Supreme Court is divided into two colours: green and red.
Green for those it had initially shortlisted and red for those it hadn’t but felt inclined to after the High Court described its selection process as ‘irrational’.
The choice of colours, it could be said, is to increase visibility but for the more literal, the traditional interpretation of green for go and red for stop, could also be applied.
Regardless, the Judicial Service Commission may have declined to make public its reasons for initially shortlisting some and not others but nonetheless, the questions posed to the candidates were telling.
Out of the seven that didn’t make the shortlist initially, two bowed out: Andrew Kongani, a law graduate yet to practice, and David Mwaure Waihiga, an advocate who opted to limit his aspirations to the position of a Supreme Court judge.
READ: Law graduate who moonlights as Law graduate who moonlights as carpenter opts out of CJ interview
There were unconfirmed reports that Professor Makau Mutua might also go the same route and skip his interview given the JSC’s preset but in all fairness to the JSC, there is another saying that only a fool doesn’t change his mind.
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