Cheers As Koome Recalls Superior Court Positions, Judges, Magistrates Says The Whole Process Was Corrupt

A large number of Judges and Magistrates are over the moon following Chief Magistrate Martha Koome’s decision to stop the recruitment of High court and the court of appeal Judges.

Koome’s decision comes after Kenya Insights previously exposed on how money and corrupt dealings play out at the JSC during Judges and Magistrates Recruitment process.

In our earlier publication, we reported on how millions exchange hand for the said plum Court positions.

Our investigations now shows that the last two recruitments of the Judges of the High Court was a charade and a mockery of the whole process.

“Corruption, horse trading and abuse of process have characterized the opaque recruitments. For instance, stories are told of Commissioners ask their friends to apply and as a normal routine, huge sums of money have exchanged hands in the previous process, ” said a male source.

According to a prominent Judge aware of the matter, those seeking to be Judges are usually handpicked earlier before any recruitment is announced.

“During the previous interviews, we saw some individuals celebrating even before the JSC released the list of successful candidates, this needs to change,” he added.

A city advocate said the rot at the JSC shows that Koome has failed to offer leadership and called for his resignation.

“The CJ needs to resign and allow competent person to take over, this mess is so bad to entertain,” he said.

He also called for auditing of the previous Recruitments done by the JSC as a way of identifying the rots within the entire commission.

Our efforts to reach the CJ and the Registrar of the Judiciary for comment on the matter was not successful as they did not receive our calls during the time if publishing.