JSC nominates Lenaola for Supreme Court judge

Justice Isaac Lenaola when he appeared before a Judicial Service Commission panel at the Supreme Court on October 12, 2016 to be interviewed for the position of Supreme Court judge. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP.

What you need to know:

  • During his vetting, Justice Lenaola defended his ruling that homosexuals register their organisation, explaining that the Constitution espouses the rights of every Kenyan, including gays and bisexual and transgender people.

High Court judge Isaac Lenaola has been proposed for appointment as judge of the Supreme Court to replace Justice Philip Tunoi, who was forced to retire.

"The Judicial Service Commission has after lengthy deliberations recommended Justice Isaac Lenaola, for appointment as judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya and has submitted the name to the president,” said JSC chairperson Margaret Kobia in a statement on Tuesday evening.

During his vetting, Justice Lenaola defended his ruling that homosexuals register their organisation, explaining that the Constitution espouses the rights of every Kenyan, including gays and bisexual and transgender people.

His decision, he said, was based on the constitutional provision of freedom of association.

β€œThe Constitution recognises that people have a right to form associations and associate with their kind and this is what guided my judgment on the matter,” he told the vetting panel.

In June this year, the Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeal verdict that judges retire at the age of 70.

Then Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal and Justice Philip Tunoi had protested the Judicial Service Commission's decision to retire them and filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, but they both lost.