Lenaola - The brilliant samburu judge nominated as Supreme Court Judge

[RV Pundit]

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An inspired choice.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/10/25/isaac-lenaola-nominated-supreme-court-judge_c1444072

[Nefertiti]

Small item; we already lost the opportunity to transform with status quo Maraga.

[Kichwa]

I wish he was the CJ but this is good news-he is still young and maybe CJ if the position opens up.  I hope he remains true to himself and he will shake things up. Sometimes all that is needed is a very strong,  inspiring and reassuring descending opinion.  I also believe he can influence and inspire other CJ's to be fearless and to stand up to "wakula nyama". All we ask are justices who can turn bribes down and refuse to succumb to threats.  We need a "shujaa" out of the court.  For too long the Kenyan judiciary has been a disappointment after another. Lets keep our fingers crossed.   

[Nefertiti]

Yes Kichwa. It started in 2011 and I hoped a reformer would succeed Mutunga. Small victories count like DPORK paying Muteshi, Moi vacating Kabarak, dubious laws being squashed, etc. One day we should have a SCOTUS hopefully without the ideological divide.

[Georgesoros]

ALL i heard about him is positive.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Small item; we already lost the opportunity to transform with status quo Maraga.

Maraga even brought back the practice of putting a bird's nest on the judge's head.

[Kadudu]

  Not a good sign.

Maraga even brought back the practice of putting a bird's nest on the judge's head.

[MOON Ki]

Small item; we already lost the opportunity to transform with status quo Maraga.

Maraga even brought back the practice of putting a bird's nest on the judge's head.

Amusing.   UK Supreme Court judges do not wear that thing.    Same in Canada, etc.   But here we are: forward to the 1800s.

[Empedocles]

Not a good sign.

Maraga even brought back the practice of putting a bird's nest on the judge's head.

Exactly.

Maraga is old-school.

[RV Pundit]

Give Maraga time. The stud wearing mutunga wasted lots of energy on useless stuff like attire but delivered very little in terms of concrete stuff. I wasn't inspired by Maraga choice but I say let us give him some time.We will judge him on real cold hard data - like how much he reduces backlog - we know mutunga basically came in with 800,000k case and left with 600,000 cases - Maraga says he will automate our courts and promise to build more courts all over the country - lets wait and see.

[Kichwa]

I am still optimistic because the country is changing and court could be swept with the changes. Kenya is a very restless country right now and its hard to tell who will be swept aside. The court must be prepared to be part of that change.  Even the political landscape is changing and it is very difficult to know where it will settle.  The full effect of devolution and the new Katiba are yet to be realized. They are like the undercurrent, you do not feel them until you are swept away. They say that when you are being pulled by the undercurrents, do not struggle, just go along and then when it weakens swim parallel to the coast lines and then swim back in.  Maraga may be swept with the undercurrents that is brewing right now and he may not struggle but swim with it. Folks are really getting tired with corruption.  Ouru is in danger but even if he were to survive, Ruto will not.  2017 may not look anything like today. 

Not a good sign.

Maraga even brought back the practice of putting a bird's nest on the judge's head.

Exactly.

Maraga is old-school.

[Kichwa]

I hope Maraga learned the right lessons from Mutunga's failures.  Also, times have changed.  Very few people can change time but most people can change with time.  I think times have changed and Maraga can change with the times. He may not have a choice.
 

Give Maraga time. The stud wearing mutunga wasted lots of energy on useless stuff like attire but delivered very little in terms of concrete stuff. I wasn't inspired by Maraga choice but I say let us give him some time.We will judge him on real cold hard data - like how much he reduces backlog - we know mutunga basically came in with 800,000k case and left with 600,000 cases - Maraga says he will automate our courts and promise to build more courts all over the country - lets wait and see.

[MOON Ki]

Give Maraga time. The stud wearing mutunga wasted lots of energy on useless stuff like attire but delivered very little in terms of concrete stuff. I wasn't inspired by Maraga choice but I say let us give him some time.We will judge him on real cold hard data - like how much he reduces backlog - we know mutunga basically came in with 800,000k case and left with 600,000 cases - Maraga says he will automate our courts and promise to build more courts all over the country - lets wait and see.

Perhaps you do not understand how courts work, whence the simple-minded opinion.   What matters is the "clearance rate" and not just the number at point X in time and the number at point Y in time.   The reason for that should be obvious: there are new cases arising every day.

The caseload  for FY 2014/2015 was 612,309.    Of that 359,806, i.e.  were new cases for the year.  That is about 60% of the caseload was from new cases in that single year.    Is Mutunga to blame for people rushing to court?

[RV Pundit]

Of course he is to blame. His job is to anticipate (plan) for new cases as he deals with backlog. If he can come and say parliament or executive didn't support him; that is something else; he knows there are many more cases coming in (as is expected); and should have worked hard on improving court efficiency and productivity. All the candidate interviewed seem to to think they could do more. Automation for instance has been around for many years - and yet our courts are still rudimentary. But you've got Mutunga who think our dressing is rudimentary and we should be wearing kitenge to court. What a damn fool. Judges should wear 15th century headgear as we work on modernize our courts - the technology is all over the world - just adapt it to kenya.

Maraga and Mutunga will be judge by how effective the judiciary is when faced with a chicken thief or land case in the villages..not how much saliva he produces flapping their gums in big talks shows in Nairobi talking about cartelsHe need to ask for tips from the "Ease of doing" business guys - who are working on the average joe getting electricity, average wanjiku getting an id, etc, etc.

That is how our judiciary will be judged - not by high profile cases - but by average of all cases.

Perhaps you do not understand how courts work, whence the simple-minded opinion.   What matters is the "clearance rate" and not just the number at point X in time and the number at point Y in time.   The reason for that should be obvious: there are new cases arising every day.

The caseload  for FY 2014/2015 was 612,309.    Of that 359,806, i.e.  were new cases for the year.  That is about 60% of the caseload was from new cases in that single year.    Is Mutunga to blame for people rushing to court?

[MOON Ki]

Of course he is to blame. His job is to anticipate (plan) for new cases as he deals with backlog. If he can come and say parliament or executive didn't support him; that is something else; he knows there are many more cases coming in (as is expected)

I take it you got the earlier point on a simple-minded numbers game.  Excellent.   On this new one, you are encouraged to look at the differences between the Judiciary's budget requests and what Parliament has allocated. I believe that at the Judiciary's website you will be able to find information on what the Judiciary has wanted to do, what it needed, what it got, etc.

All the candidate interviewed seem to to think they could do more.

Yes, they did.    And I would have been surprised if they had done otherwise.  But seeming to think and being able to, or doing, are entirely different matters.

Automation for instance has been around for many years - and yet our courts are still rudimentary.

As far as I can tell, none of those interviewed went beyond what Mutunga had already been working on.   What exactly did they say that particularly impressed you as new or innovative?

http://www.judiciary.go.ke/portal/blog/post/digitalization-processes-in-the-judiciary-to-involve-users

http://www.hivisasa.com/kiambu/news/118065

http://kenyanewsagency.go.ke/en/judges-to-use-automated-services-in-court/

The Judiciary's webpage has numerous pages and reports of what went on during Mutunga's years, his plans, etc.   I realize that you generally don't care for facts, but if you wish to engage in a discussion here, them I would encourage you to do a bit of reading.

But you've got Mutunga who think our dressing is rudimentary and we should be wearing kitenge to court. What a damn fool. Judges should wear 15th century headgear as we work on modernize our courts

This might come as news to you, but such things matter.   In fact, the people from whom we got these funny outfits (as well as our legal system) think it is so important that judges handling civil and family matters are no longer allowed to wear them---on the grounds that it doesn't help with the public's perception of justice and its accessibility. This was a carefully thought-out and much-discussed matter.  On the other hand, here we are, thoughtlessly moving "forward" to the past.

But if I may ask: Why do you judges in Kenya should wear dead-mzungu wigs, especially 50+ years after independence?   The Supreme-Court judges of our former colonizers have ceremonial robes (without funny wigs!) that they wear 2 or 3 times a year; when in session, they wear "regular" clothes, and they have asked lawyers appearing before them to leave their funny outfits at home.  (Why?)   And yet here we are.

Maraga's return to such silly outfits can be summed in one word: retrograde.  But it is more than just silliness and looking absurd: other than the fact that dress frequently reflects attitude, approach to work an life, etc. ... one should carefully look into why the former colonizers and "advanced" former-colonies have   been moving in the other direction. 

[Kichwa]

I wish you could apply some of that standards to ouruto sometimes.

Of course he is to blame. His job is to anticipate (plan) for new cases as he deals with backlog. If he can come and say parliament or executive didn't support him; that is something else; he knows there are many more cases coming in (as is expected); and should have worked hard on improving court efficiency and productivity. All the candidate interviewed seem to to think they could do more. Automation for instance has been around for many years - and yet our courts are still rudimentary. But you've got Mutunga who think our dressing is rudimentary and we should be wearing kitenge to court. What a damn fool. Judges should wear 15th century headgear as we work on modernize our courts - the technology is all over the world - just adapt it to kenya.

Maraga and Mutunga will be judge by how effective the judiciary is when faced with a chicken thief or land case in the villages..not how much saliva he produces flapping their gums in big talks shows in Nairobi talking about cartelsHe need to ask for tips from the "Ease of doing" business guys - who are working on the average joe getting electricity, average wanjiku getting an id, etc, etc.

That is how our judiciary will be judged - not by high profile cases - but by average of all cases.

Perhaps you do not understand how courts work, whence the simple-minded opinion.   What matters is the "clearance rate" and not just the number at point X in time and the number at point Y in time.   The reason for that should be obvious: there are new cases arising every day.

The caseload  for FY 2014/2015 was 612,309.    Of that 359,806, i.e.  were new cases for the year.  That is about 60% of the caseload was from new cases in that single year.    Is Mutunga to blame for people rushing to court?

[RV Pundit]

we have more priorities than dress code.I am glad maraga has outdone mutunga rubbish
We should not engage on debate about wigs when we have 630,000 case backlog

[RV Pundit]

Now you wish you could have Lenaola than Mutunga kind of crap.
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Kenya-needs-more-Lenaolas-in-positions-of-authority/440808-3434328-himt14/index.html