Uhuru Kenyatta appoints William Ouko Supreme Court judge

President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed Court of Appeal Judge William Ouko as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Justice Ouko was nominated for appointment to the apex court last week by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) after beating six other contenders for the position.

He was eyeing the position of the Chief Justice which he lost to Justice Martha Koome, whose appointment is awaiting Parliament's approval.

He will replace Justice Jackton Ojwang', who retired in February 2020 after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Ouko also served as the president of the appellate court, a position he has been holding since March 2018. He has 33 years’ experience in the legal profession, having served in various capacities.

His profile at the Judiciary, indicates that the 59-year-old judge joined the judicial service in 1987 as District Magistrate II (Professional) rising to become a Deputy Registrar of the High Court in 1989. Later in 1997, he was promoted to serve as the first Chief Court Administrator of the Judiciary.

Corruption

He rose to become the Accounting Officer for the Judiciary after he was appointed to the position of Registrar of the High Court in 2002. During that period, Justice Ouko served as secretary to the Judicial Service Commission and Secretary to the National Council for Law Reporting (NCLR). He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court in 2004, and as a Court of Appeal Judge in 2012.

During the interview for the Chief Justice Position, Justice Ouko promised to restore public confidence in the judiciary. He observed that the problems bedevilling the Judiciary include corruption, backlog of cases, and delayed judgments all of which he said, impact on the litigants.

 “Corruption is like night running. No night runner runs during the day. And it takes two to tango. The Ombudsman office is there, it is the office we must take seriously. Wealth declaration forms… nobody checks if the car you said you own in 2009 is the same one you use,” he said.

The Judge suggested that it was time to implement the numerous reports presented by the judiciary to tackle some of the problems it is facing.