MPs approve Martha Koome as Chief Justice

Justice Martha Koome during the CJ position interview on April 14, 2021. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NMG

Lady Justice Martha Koome now awaits formal appointment as the first woman Chief Justice in Kenya’s history following her nomination by Parliament.

Members of Parliament on Wednesday morning approved Justice Koome, paving the way for her swearing-in to succeed David Maraga who retired in January.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had forwarded Justice Koome’s name to Parliament for approval on April 28 after she beat nine other candidates including judges, prominent lawyers in private practice and law scholars. 

Ms Koome will head the Judiciary for a maximum of ten years but will have the option of retiring after attaining the age of 65. The new Chief Justice is 61 years old.

When she takes office, she will become Kenya’s third Chief Justice after the passing of the Constitution in 2010 and will be joining Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Justice Njoki Ndung’u at the Supreme Court ending a 10-year wait to comply with the constitutional one-third gender rule.

Justice Koome’s nomination was marred by controversy after the Judicial Service Commission declined to reveal the scores of the ten candidates amid claims by top lawyer Fred Ngatia that he had been rigged out.

Mr Ngatia, who had been tipped as one of the frontrunners, disputed Justice Koome’s nomination, saying that the JSC manipulated his scores.

Renowned for her passion for children and women’s rights, Justice Koome joined the High Court in 2003 and served in several stations among them Nakuru and Nairobi, before she was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2011.

Last year, Justice Koome was named United Nations (UN) Kenya Person of the Year 2020 in recognition of her advocacy for the rights of children in conflict.