Kenya's fifth president, William Samoei Ruto, on his first day in office, recorded his commitment to work with the Judiciary as he appointed and ordered the swearing-in of six Judges recommended for appointment to the Court of Appeal and High Court by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) three years ago.
List of judges appointed by Ruto on his first day in office
The judges were recommended by the JSC 3 years ago but were never appointed.
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President Ruto, in his speech as the Head of State on September 13, promised to bring to an end the three-year stand-off that had been erected between the Judiciary and the Executive.
"To further demonstrate my commitment to the independence of the Judiciary, this afternoon I will appoint the 6 judges already nominated for appointment to the court of appeal, three years ago, by the Judicial Service Commission, and tomorrow, I shall preside over their swearing-in ceremony so that they can get on with the business of serving the people," said President Ruto.
The President signed two Gazette Notices appointing judges: Weldon Korir, Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga, and Prof. Joel Ngugi to the Court of Appeal.
Also named for appointment by the President were High Court registrar Elizabeth Omange and Chief Magistrate Evans Makori as Environment and Lands judges at the High Court.
The President has also ordered an annual increase of the Judiciary budget by Sh3 Billion for the next five years which is intended to ease the operations of the judicial and court operations amidst cries of case clogging on the walls of justice delivery.
Speaking during his inauguration ceremony after receiving his full tools of power, Ruto said: "Financial independence of the Judiciary has paid off with the implementation of the Judiciary Fund, on July 1st this year. My administration will scale up the budgetary allocation to the judiciary by an additional Sh 3 billion annually for the next 5 years starting with the financial year 2022/2023."
Elizabeth Omange and Evans Makori were on the list that former President Uhuru Kenyatta declined to appoint as judges stating that he turned down their nominations “for failing to meet the required threshold” despite several court orders and others wanting to have him impeached.
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