After news broke that Professor Makau Mutua had been kicked out of the race to occupy the Chief Justice position, Kenyans on social media got into a frenzy.
Many were quick to mock Mutua over his 84-page CV which was initially seen as an added advantage to get the top Judiciary job.
A section of the public cast doubt on his huge résumé stating that he must have used big fonts or double spaces to make it voluminous.
Reports indicate that the human rights advisor was rejected for his public proclamation that he does not recognise President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto as the country’s leaders, despite a ruling by the Supreme Court.
Others drew interesting lessons from his elimination highlighting that there was no way a person could dismiss the Government and get employment from the same Government.
Some comforted themselves from Mutua’s encounter noting that job rejection affected everybody no matter the experience one had.
Memes were created lampooning Mutua, who is an ardent critic of President Kenyatta and the Jubilee Government.
A section of Kenyans, however, faulted the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) noting that the professor’s values ought not to have been used as a basis to dismiss him.
Earlier, Political Analyst Mutahi Ngunyi stated that the lawyer’s values and biases would hinder his ambition to succeed Willy Mutunga.
“Mutua wa Makau as CJ is a TRAGIC POLITICAL JOKE. He is NOT NEUTRAL. And his Afro-Pessimism is ACIDIC. We don’t need another ACTIVIST for CJ,” Ngunyi said.
He further claimed that Makau could fail to swear in President Uhuru Kenyatta come 2017 if re-elected.
“If made CJ, Mutua Wa Makau could ‘REFUSE’ to swear Uhuru as President in 2017. He has told us that he DOES NOT RECOGNISE Uhuru as President,” Ngunyi continued.
Other applicants eliminated from the CJ race are; Dr Isaac Rutenberg, Justice Prof Jackton Ojwang, Mr Kongani Udoto Kongani, Ms Lucy Wanja Julius, Mr David Mwaure Waihiga, Rtd Justice Aaron Ringera and Amb Daniel Wambura.
Here are the reactions:
Makau mutua welcome to the hustle bro…even me I have received several regret letters
Makau Mutua & his 80+ Page CV were too good for CHIEF Justice. Maybe he should try D.O Justice, D.C Justice or even P.C Justice.#justsaying
No one should doubt, Makau Mutua’s academic and professional qualifications. And no one should doubt his importance in the Kenya society. May be after this predicament, he should join us in our fight against the kind of corruption at the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development where several title deeds are released to several Kenyans for the ownership of one property by several Kenyans, as though there are no records kept at the Ministry, an action which is creating a lot of chaos, wars and confrontations among Kenyans.