Elders of the Luhya community were on Thursday greatly dismayed when their ‘son’ Judge Smokin Wanjala failed to be nominated by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for Chief Justice of Kenya position.
The leaders who were in a prayer meeting for the better part of the day hoping that Mr Wanjala would emerge as the JSC’s best choice, expressed their disappointment after Judge David Maraga took the top Judicial seat.
In an interview, the village elders divulged that they had accepted the decision half-heartedly as they were vouching for their own, Judge Wanjala.
Nonetheless, the decision by JSC was an unforeseen one as a good number of the public had voted for Mr Wanjala, who displayed an excellent mastery of the law during the interview.
56-year-old Wanjala also impressed the panel by how he tackled the tough questions posed by the JSC panel.
Justice Maraga’s name will be forwarded to President Uhuru Kenyatta for a formal appointment then to the National Assembly for approval by MPs.
Smokin Wanjala is a Kenyan lawyer and an Associate justice of the Supreme Court of Kenya. He holds a Ph.D. in law from University of Ghent, Belgium. He also holds a Master of Laws degree from the Columbia University in the United States and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi-Wikipedia
We can only have one Chief justice at a time out of the 42 or so tribes. It should not be viewed as a reward to a community because he is supposed to serve all Kenyans.He is not supposed to be seen to favor his tribe while serving.