President Ruto throws Bomet ex-Governor Isaac Ruto a lifeline

President William Ruto has nominated Bomet former Governor Isaac Ruto to be a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in a message to Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula for approval hearings.

Also nominated to the 11-member JSC is Ms Caroline Nzilani Ajuoga.

The two will represent the public in the commission and will replace Mr Felix Koskei and Prof Olive Mugenda whose five-year term is expiring in November 2023.

The nomination of Mr Ruto, the former chairman of the Council of Governors (CoG), adds to a list of politicians who lost in the August 9, 2022 general election who have been given a lifeline by President Ruto.

Mr Ruto, a former fierce opponent of President Ruto during his reign as deputy president, served as the first Governor of Bomet from 2013 to 2017 when he lost to Dr Joyce Laboso, now deceased.

In the last year’s election, Mr Ruto was floored by Dr Hillary Barchok as he tried to make a comeback after five years in the cold.

Dr BarchoK was Dr Laboso’s deputy but succeeded her when she died of cancer on July 29, 2019.

Mr Koskei left the Commission in October 2022 to become the Head of Public Service in the Kenya Kwanza administration and President Ruto’s Chief of Staff.

Undertake approval hearings

Mr Wetang'ula, on Wednesday afternoon, announced receipt of the two names from the President and forwarded them to the House Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs (JLAC) to undertake approval hearings.

JLAC, chaired by Tharaka MP George Murugara, will now have 21 days to undertake the necessary approval hearings on the nominees, which includes vetting and recommending to the House in a report whether to approve or reject the nominees in line with the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act.

The Act gives the House seven days within which to consider and approve or reject the recommendations of the committee on the nominees.

If the 28 days provided for in the law end before the House makes its position on the committee’s report, the nominees will be deemed to have been approved for their formal appointment by the president.

Article 171(2)(h) of the constitution states that the JSC will consist of one woman and one man to represent the public, not being lawyers, appointed by the President with the approval of the National Assembly.

The Constitution further provides that members of the Commission, apart from the Chief Justice and the Attorney-General, should hold office, provided that they remain qualified, for a term of five years.

The said members are eligible to be nominated for one further term of five years.

JSC is chaired by the Chief Justice, who is also the President of the Supreme Court.

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