Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu has called upon the Judiciary to consider selecting a woman to be the next Chief Justice of Kenya.
In a statement to media houses, Ngilu said that there could never be a better moment to have a woman as the head of the judiciary than now.
She stated that the other two arms of Government; Executive and Legislature, are headed by men, and deputised by the same gender.
Also, Ngilu wants the Judiciary to do away with its tradition, whereby women have been deputising men ever since the promulgation of the current constitution in 2010.
“We note that highly qualified competent and experienced women candidates are being interviewed for the position of Chief Justice,” read Ngilu’s statement.
“Having Women at the high table must not be an afterthought, a favor, or an act of magnanimity and tokenism. It must be an active ingredient in crafting the development framework of this nation.”
So far, two women have been interviewed for the Chief Justice position this week. They include Patricia Mbote and Martha Koome.
The two have been interviewed alongside 3 men namely; Philip Murgor, David Marete Njagi and Ibrahim Chitembwe.
The interviews have been marred by drama and haunting memories of previous judgments issued by the candidates.
Male candidates have found themselves in difficult situations while facing the Judicial Service Commission interviewers.
In Justice Chitembwe’s interview, he was haunted by a previous ruling where he had released a suspect who defiled a minor.
In his defense, the Judge said that he made the ruling because the minor’s family was aware of it, and did not object.
When it came to Justice Marete’s turn, he gave a hard time to the JSC through his controversial answers that he said courageously.
In one instance, he said that “when he was born, it is the nurse that cried, and not him.”
For Senior Council Philip Murgor, it was an interview filled with tension between him and Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu.
He also gave the panel a hard time through his conduct in skipping to answer many important questions.
The successful candidate will take over from Justice David Maraga who retired in January this year.
