You are forgiven, judge tells her father’s killer

• Dr Ang’awa was hit on head with a blunt object by an assailant in city 40 years ago

She got in the car, and it was then that he broke the news of her father’s death. Dr Ang’awa was the director of the national anti-tuberculosis  unit at the ministry of Health.

He had traversed the country as a medical officer after graduating from Makerere University in the late 1940s and after obtaining post-graduate degrees in Canada and Britain.

Dr Ang’awa had worked in Embu, Kiambu, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kakamega and Bungoma and was one of the best known members of the medical profession in the country.

During the 40th anniversary celebrations, the National TB Association will honour Dr Ang’awa.

It will also be an emotional moment for Justice Ang’awa, who overcame the shock of the loss of her father to become a distinguished member of the Judiciary where she has served for 30 years.

She says her commitment to Christian values, which abhor corruption, revenge and immorality, explain her success in the Judiciary. It is on that basis that while serving as a judge in Busia, she escaped the “radical surgery” led by retired Justice Aaron Ringera to purge the bench of corrupt elements.

“It has been tough since I was appointed a magistrate in 1980. I was posted to Kibera where the courtroom was a filthy building without water, power and facilities. The idea was to discourage me to resign like Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula did. He used to be transferred every two weeks,” she said.

She nearly resigned in 1981, but her bosses got wind of her plan and convinced her to stay. Although her salary was not enough to make ends meet, she had to live with her mother in Otiende Estate.

Justice Ang’awa joined the bench at a time when only three women were employed as magistrates. In 1980, no woman had been appointed to the High Court of Kenya or to the Court of Appeal.

Today, a good portion of magistrates are women. There are 18 female judges and one Court of Appeal judge. Justice Ang’awa is chairperson of the Kenya Women Judges Association.

With such success, she affirms that forgiveness has made the Ang’awas to forge ahead.