The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) headed by Chief Justice Martha Koome has been instructed by the Court of Appeal to make sure that the two-thirds gender norm is followed by all courts.
In 2016, attorney Adrian Njenga first brought the lawsuit before the High Court, contesting the legitimacy of the Supreme Court's makeup.
After the High Court dismissed his case, he appealed to the appellate court.
JSC asked the appellate court to review the case claiming that the gender issue was not the main factor in appointment decisions.
The court however, rejected the claim holding that JSC had violated the law when it hired Chief Justice (now retired) David Maraga in 2016 joining retired judge Jackton Ojwang, Justices Isaac Lenaola, Smokin Wanjala and Mohamed Ibrahim.
Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Lady Justice Njoki Ndung'u served as their female equivalents at the time.
The current Supreme Court however, is properly constituted with CJ Koome, Philomena Mwilu, William Ouko, Isaac Leanola, and Smokin Wanjala serving as the four male judges and Njoki Ndung'u, Njoki Mwilu and Njoki Ndung'u serving as the three female judges.
The court further ruled that JSC must make sure that the two-thirds gender principle is followed when carrying out its recruitment mandate 12 years after the 2010 Constitution was enacted.
Content created and supplied by: Numeric_Updates (via Opera News )
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