CJ urges Judiciary to honour judges

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has urged the Judiciary to honour judges who leave office upon retirement.

According to Dr Mutunga, the practice was non-existent in the Judiciary as judicial officers “tend to ignore” their retiring colleagues.

The Chief Justice said this Friday as he hosted retired Chief Justice Evan Gicheru at a farewell luncheon at the Hilton in Nairobi.

It was the first time that Dr Mutunga, Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza, both whose job is to clean up the Judiciary appeared together at a public function.

“When our compatriots do great work and leave office, we tend to ignore them,” said Dr Mutunga.

“We don’t even have a culture where Judge Gicheru would come and hand over to me.”

Dr Mutunga and Ms Baraza praised Mr Gicheru’s reign at the helm of the Judiciary, especially his role in the introduction of electronic law reporting, electronic hansard and Kenya Gazette archiving, and a pilot electronic case management system.

Dr Mutunga said the case management system was the most successful so far, and described the electronic archiving as “a first for Africa".

He also had some bits of “retirement wisdom” for his predecessor.

“Retirement is when you stop living at work, but when you start working at living,” he said.

He told told Justice Gicheru to “explore, dream and discover” in his retirement, because “there is no official age when you should retire from retirement".

Ms Baraza described Mr Gicheru as having been a “beacon of wisdom” during his career in the Judiciary.

With his gentle and calm disposition, he served the Judiciary selflessly, diligently and for a long period, she added.

Mr Gicheru served the government for 45 years, most of it being in the Judiciary. He was appointed Chief Justice in 2003 by the Kibaki Administration.

He also chaired a judicial inquiry into the death of former Foreign minister Robert Ouko, but President Moi abolished the commission before it concluded its work.

But it was also during his tenure at the top of the Judiciary when the Orange Democratic Movement refused to go to court following the disputed 2007 presidential election results. He presided over President Kibaki’s controversial swearing-in for a second term in late evening, minutes after the disputed results were announced.

However, the launch of an online database for the laws of Kenya makes him proud when he looks back at his tenure.

“I am filled with pride in having had the opportunity,” he said Friday.