MPs begin search for vetting team

Justice Isaac Lenaola was interviewed by Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Tuesday as it began the search for members to sit in the team that will vet judges and magistrates October 19, 2010/ FILE

Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Tuesday began the search for members to sit in the team that will vet judges and magistrates.

In the first historic public interview in Kenya, the committee first met High Court Judge, Justice Isaac Lenaola and later Principal Magistrate Emily Ominde in separate rigorous interviews.

The two are nominees of the Kenya Judges and Magistrates Association to sit in the Judicial Service Commission to revamp the Judiciary in line with the provisions of the new Constitution.

Justice Lenaola was the first before the committee and he oozed confidence as he responded to questions from the committee members.

The judge, who is based in Kakamega, had flown in that morning to attend the interview. He told the House team chaired by Mr Ababu Namwamba (Budalang’i, ODM) that he did not have “any baggage” from his past.

“You cannot come to the Judiciary when you’re carrying baggage. I am confident that I have no baggage myself. Only those with no baggage will have a vision to change the Judiciary,” he said.

Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight—the debacle in the picking of the chairman of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission and the civil society backlash over the chairman of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission—Ms Millie Odhiambo (nominated MP, ODM) insisted that the judge bares it all.

“Tell us everything,” she said.

“You (Ms Odhiambo) and I met when we were nineteen years old, if there were any issues, you’d have known about it. There’s nothing beyond me that’s not in the public domain.”

Put on the spot to declare if he had participated in any political activity, Justice Lenaola said, the last time he participated was in 1997, when he oversaw Kanu elections in his Samburu home area.

He said the highlight of his career is when the Court of Appeal lauded most of his judgments on cases.

“Nothing makes a judge happier than the Court of Appeal saying they like what you’re doing,” said Justice Lenaola.

“I think I have done some serious work in the Judiciary. It’s very easy to tap into my judgements; they’re all in the public domain.”

He said his integrity record was beyond reproach.

“Any person in the Judiciary without integrity is like a naked person who does not have anything to show society,” he said.

“I am on a daily basis in a crusade for integrity wherever I work. There’s no point being a clean judge, while you’re surrounded by dirty people.”

He added that in his career in the Judiciary, he’d never encountered conflict of interest.

“Each person will be tested based on their qualifications, history and against a set standard. I don’t foresee a situation where I’ll disqualify myself,” Justice Lenaola said.

Ms Ominde, a former secretary of KJMA, was also put through the same line of questioning and she was equally confident that she didn’t have any skeletons in her closet that would jeopardise her selection to the body to vet judges.

“Whatever work I’ve done has been in accordance with my oath of office. I’ve never condoned favouritism, bias or nepotism in my duties,” she said.

She told the committee that her vision was to have a ‘clean’ Judiciary and better terms of service.

“It’s time we came down to earth and realise that we’re selling a commodity called justice, because we are expected to have a high moral ground. You are as good as the environment in which you work in,” said Ms Ominde.

She added that should a situation arise where she may have a conflict of interest, then, like she’s done in her career, she’ll disqualify herself.

“Once we do the structures and agree on them, even before knowing who is going to apply; if they qualify, then we’ll have no problem shortlisting them,” said Ms Ominde. “They (members of the KJMA) know what to expect of Ominde and what not to expect.”

After the interviews, Mr Namwamba said the committee was in a race against time and that it was keen to have the Judicial Service Commission constituted by October 27 –within the next seven days.

The team needs five members to start operating and the names of Mr Lenaola and Ms Ominde have already been tabled in Parliament for adoption and consequent appointment by the President. The two were chosen in accordance with article 171.

The commission will have 11 members. Nominees of the Law Society of Kenya are expected in Parliament next Monday.