Cool, calm and collected, and an inexhaustible pool of judicial wisdom—that was Justice Akilano Molade Akiwumi.
Add to this a fatherly demeanour, probing eyes and a heavy west African accent that affirmed his Ghanian roots, and you had enough to make him stand out among his peers in the Kenyan Judiciary.
As a court reporter with the Nation almost two decades back, I interacted on numerous occasions with the good judge who, sadly, made his final bow on Tuesday this week
As a judge of the Court of Appeal, the highest court in the land before the 2010 Constitution established the Supreme Court, Akiwumi wore his deep convictions about the law and justice on his sleeves.
It was his role as the chairperson of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Tribal Clashes that, in my impressionable journalistic mind, brought out the best in him.
Recurring tribal clashes in parts of the country every election cycle in the 90s was an albatross the government of President Daniel Moi struggled to cut loose. They cast an ugly stain on his government and eroded the image he sought to cut as a statesman.
He finally acted. On July 1, 1998, he set up the commission of inquiry. It’s cardinal objective was to investigate the tribal clashes that had occurred across the country since 1991 with a view to determining their origin, underlying causes, responses by security agencies, and level of preparedness of law enforcement agencies in preventing future occurrence.
The leadership of the team fell on Akiwumi. Other commissioners were Justice Samuel Bosire and Lady Justice Sarah Ondeyo.
The choice of Akiwumi was a surprise to many, but the consideration that carried the day was his perceived impartiality given his foreign roots. To assist them were counsels John Gacivih and Dorcas Oduor from the office of the Attorney-General.
Mr Gacivih was later replaced by Bernard Chunga, then director of public prosecutions in the AG’s office, and who would later rise to be Chief Justice.
The work of the commission entailed visiting and receiving evidence and contributions from the public in the regions that had been affected by the clashes. Nakuru, then the headquarters of the Rift Valley Province, hosted the bulk of the sessions. This was because Rift Valley bore the brunt of the clashes. Nyanza and Coast regions also experienced sporadic clashes.
Alongside my bureau chief Michael Njuguna, fellow writer Watoro Kamau and photographer Joseph Kiheri, we camped at the Nakuru County Council Hall, the venue of the proceedings and churned out a stream of stories that made the headlines.
Emotions, pain and a sense of helplessness played out as witnesses gave harrowing accounts of their experiences. Administrators and law enforcement offices had their moments of shame as they were taken to task over their lack of leadership.
Through it all, Akiwumi and his fellow commissioners offered astute leadership, balancing the interests of all parties. Their mettle was to come under severe test when names of politicians, some of them bigwigs in the Moi government started featuring in testimonies.
One of the bigwigs, miffed by one of our page one stories, cried foul and petitioned the commission to have the paper recant its story and be barred from covering the proceedings. The application saw the then group managing editor Wangethi Mwangi summoned.
After considering the application, the bench turned down the request to bar the Nation from the proceedings, but with caution that the media should not rely solely on witness statements. We were only to report on statements in which the adversely mentioned parties had had the opportunity to rebut.
This decision and the manner in which he led the commission, guiding it through the minefield of selfish interests, buttressed the high regard in which I held this wonderful judge.
- Mr Agutu, a former court reporter, works in Parliament.
