Do You Foresee Justice Njagi As The Next Chief Justice?

General
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The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has had a rather torrid two weeks interviewing candidates for the Chief Justice position.

The commission led by Prof Olive Mugenda is set to retreat to consider the performance of the interviewees, but a spanner was thrown into the works following a court order barring the commissioners from nominating the next chief justice.

Meanwhile, many Kenyans might be wondering just how much JSC members take home in form of salaries and allowances.

According to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), each of the JSC members earn between Ksh150,000 and Ksh250,000 as a responsibility allowance.

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JSC Commissioner, Prof. Olive Mugenda

The special duty allowance is similar to a retainer, and it is intended to cover tasks that members may do outside of the commission’s formal meetings.

The commissioners also take home an allowance of Ksh40,000 per sitting, with the SRC putting a maximum of 8 sittings in a month.

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Members of the Judicial Service Commission at the Supreme Court Building

The JSC is also entitled to special tasks allowance of Ksh20,000 to Ksh25,000 per sitting for disciplinary cases and recruiting purposes.

For the 10 days that the commissioners were conducting interviews for the Chief Justice Position, they earned between Ksh200,000 and Ksh250,000.

Apart from the allowances the commissioners earn as members of JSC, they are also entitled to remuneration from their full-time jobs such as Attorney General Paul Kihara who takes home more than Ksh700,000.

Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu takes home between Ksh800,000 to Ksh1.2 million, while Justice Mohamed Warsame pockets between Ksh680,000 and Ksh1 million as a Court of Appeal judge.

Justice David Majanja created a buzz when he openly said he as an alumnus of the Alliance High School, and takes home between Ksh600,000 to Ksh900,000.

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JSC Commissioner Lady Justice Philomena Mwilu

Senior Principal Magistrate Evelyn Olwande who represents magistrates in the JSC is entitled to between Ksh300,000 to Ksh400,000.

Olwande is the newest entrant to the JSC having been appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in January 2021.

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Freshi baba, umepotea hizi streets

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The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has unanimously nominated Justice Martha Koome Karambu for the position of Chief Justice and forwarded her name to President Uhuru Kenyatta for the appointment.

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Ms Koome was among 10 candidates interviewed by the JSC over the last two weeks.
The other candidates were Justice Said Juma Chitembwe, Prof Patricia Mbote, Justice Marete Njagi, Philip Murgor, Justice Nduma Nderi, Fred Ngatia, Justice William Ouko, Dr Wekesa Moni and Alice Yano.
“Our duty was to select the best candidate and that’s what we have done,” Prof Olive Mugenda, who chaired the interviews, said on why the JSC will not release the scores for each candidate.
Prof Mugenda also announced that interviews for a Supreme Court judge to succeed Jackton Ojwang, who retired, will resume on May 3. She said all the candidates will be notified immediately of the dates when they will face the panel.