CONTROVERSIAL JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS HIGHLIGHT NEED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 000780 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV KJUS KE SUBJECT: CONTROVERSIAL JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS HIGHLIGHT NEED FOR REFORMS REF: NAIROBI 706 Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Rachel Meyers, Reasons 1.4 b, d ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On April 2, seven new judicial appointments became official as judges were sworn in by Chief Justice Evans Gicheru. The seven appointments included the elevation of two judges from the High Court to the Court of Appeal, as well as the appointment of five judges to the High Court. Several of the choices were highly controversial due to judges' involvement in past corruption scandals. The appointments, made by the Judicial Service Commission without consultation with the Minister of Justice, were also cited by the now-former Minister as one of her reasons for resigning on April 6 (ref A). Disagreement over the new appointments has also revived the debate over the need for a revised Judicial Service Bill and renewed calls for a more representative and independent Judicial Service Commission. The government plans to introduce a new draft Judicial Service Bill after Parliament reconvenes on April 21. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) On April 2, seven judicial appointments were made official in a rushed swearing-in ceremony conducted by Chief Justice Evans Gicheru. Two sitting high court judges, Joseph Nyamu and Alnashir Visram, were elevated to the Court of Appeal, Kenya's highest court, and five people were appointed as high court judges. Of the five new high court judges, three were already serving as magistrates, while two were new to the bench. The new picks included three women and four men: two Kikuyus, one Luhya, one Luo, one Asian (Indian) and two Muslims from Coast province. The new high court judges are Aggrey Muchelule, Abida Ali-Aroni, Maureen Odero, Said Chitembwa, and Florence Muchemi. TOO FEW JUDGES AND A CRIPPLING BACKLOG ¶3. (C) Before the recent appointments, Kenya had 11 Court of Appeal judges, 50 High Court judges and about 250 magistrates. The Court of Appeal is Kenya's highest court; high court judges hear appellate cases, constitutional claims and certain other categories of cases (including adoptions); the vast majority of Kenya's civil and criminal caseload is heard by magistrates. In 2007, Parliament passed legislation expanding the number of court of appeal judges to 14 and high court judges to 70. However, these appointments are the first since the expansion was approved. While generally welcoming the decision to fill empty slots, legal observers raised serious doubts about some of the choices (see para 6). The delay in appointing new judges has been heavily criticized by many in civil society and the legal profession, who note the crippling effects of massive backlogs in an overburdened system. The Court of Appeal alone has a backlog of two years' worth of cases; one legal aid NGO estimates the total judicial backlog at more than one million cases. Even with the expanded numbers, critics argue, there are not nearly enough judges to serve Kenya's population of more than 37 million people. In a recent discussion, Justice Mary Angawa, a career judge with more than 29 years' experience on the bench, cited three main reasons for the delay in filling the empty slots: a lack of courtroom space, insufficient funds to pay new salaries and benefits, and, perhaps most importantly, the President's desire to keep some slots in reserve so they can be doled out as rewards to loyal supporters and allies. EXECUTIVE CONTROLS JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ¶4. (C) Under the current Judicial Service Bill, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is charged with appointing judges at all levels of the judicial system. The JSC is chaired by the Chief Justice and consists of the Attorney General, two judges (one from the court of appeal and one from the high court) chosen by the President to serve on the JSC, and the chairman of the Public Service Commission. In other words, the JSC is composed entirely of Presidential appointees and thus is firmly under the control of the executive branch. Technically, the JSC has no obligation to consult with anyone prior to making appointments, so the protests by former Minister of Justice Karua because she was not consulted are somewhat disingenuous. Her position is particularly ironic given that she personally blocked the swearing-in of three of the seven new judges in 2006 (Muchelule, Muchemi, and Ali-Aroni). However, as with many things in Kenya, an NAIROBI 00000780 002 OF 003 unwritten "gentleman's agreement" to consult the Minister of Justice formerly prevailed. REVISED JUDICIAL SERVICE BILL PROPOSED ¶5. (SBU) The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has used the planned consideration of a revised Judicial Service Bill after Parliament reconvenes on April 21 to renew its call for a more transparent and inclusive JSC. (Note: The LSK, to which all practicing attorneys in Kenya are legally required to belong, has more than 6,000 members and frequently offers briefs proposing legislative amendments based on its members' feedback.) Under the LSK's proposal, the JSC would be composed of three judges chosen by their peers to serve on the JSC, the Attorney General, the Chief Kadhi (head of the Muslim court system),two lawyers nominated by LSK, two deans of law schools nominated by their peers, and one representative of the Public Service Commission. In addition, LSK notes that passing a Constitutional amendment to the section relating to judicial service is essential before considering the new Judicial Service Bill, so that any reforms will be firmly enshrined and fully constitutional. THEFT AND EMBEZZLEMENT NO BARRIER TO JUDICIAL SERVICE ¶6. (C) Two of the appointments were particularly unpopular due to the candidates' past involvement in corruption scandals. Florence Muchemi was among the 82 magistrates fired by President Kibaki shortly after he first came into office in 2003 as part of what he hailed as a sweeping reform of the judiciary. Muchemi was accused of illegally selling the house and government land she had been allocated for her personal use in her capacity as a magistrate and pocketing the proceeds. She was subsequently tried by the JSC, acquitted of all charges, and returned to her post as a magistrate. According to Apollo Mboya, Deputy Secretary of the LSK, Said Chitembwa is a close associate of Minister of Transport Ali Mwakwere, who championed his appointment to the judiciary. Chitembwa was formerly employed by the parastatal National Social Security Fund (NSSF),the Kenyan equivalent of the Social Security Administration. In October 2008, Chitembwa was one of seven senior managers suspended in connection with the loss of 1.4 billion Kenya shillings (approximately $17.4 million) of NSSF funds due to bad investments with the local brokerage firm Discount Securities Limited. He was subsequently fired from the NSSF, although has never been charged in connection with his role in improper financial dealings with Discount Securities. LOYAL GATEKEEPERS REWARDED WITH PROMOTION ¶7. (C) The two high court judges elevated to the court of appeal are both well known in the legal community as "gatekeepers," charged with ensuring that certain cases detrimental to the President's interests either never receive a hearing or die a quiet judicial death. Justice Joseph Nyamu, a Kikuyu from Kibaki's constituency, was appointed to the judiciary in 2003 and named as the head of the division charged with hearing constitutional claims. Although the constitution specifies that all high court judges have unlimited original jurisdiction over all types of claims, the Chief Justice issued an order following Nyamu's appointment that only Nyamu could hear constitutional claims. Although the LSK filed a suit contesting the legality of this order, the suit has never been heard and the order stood for more than five years. During that time, according to Mboya, no plaintiff in a constitutional case (most of which name the government as defendant) won in Justice Nyamu's courtroom. Mboya noted that Nyamu was personally responsible for ensuring that a number of suits related to the Anglo-Leasing scandal were dismissed. (Note: The Anglo-Leasing scandal, dating from 2002, implicated a number of former and current high-level government officials in a billion-dollar scam involving fake government contracts.) Justice Alnashir Visram is also known as a gatekeeper, although more subtle and intellectual in his rulings than Nyamu. Justice Abida Ali-Aroni, who served as head of the defunct Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) toward the end of its existence, is known as being "easily manipulated by the political class," according to a mission FSN who worked for her on the CKRC. Angawa was also critical of Ali-Aroni's legal acumen and intellectual ability to grasp complex issues. Appointed to the CKRC with the support of civil society, she took sides in favor of the government position NAIROBI 00000780 003 OF 003 at the time and disappointed many who had hoped for a more objective and independent voice on the CKRC. (Note: The CKRC oversaw the effort to draft a new constitution from 2002 to ¶2004. The draft constitution failed in a national referendum in November 2005.) THE DESERVING FEW? ¶8. (C) Both Mboya and Justice Angawa, who worked with Maureen Odero in her capacity as secretary of the Kenya Women Judges Association, felt that she was the most deserving of the candidates. A career judicial officer, Odero worked her way up through the ranks, most recently serving as Chief Magistrate at the Kibera Law Courts, one of the judiciary's most challenging assignments. Odero is politically connected as well. The daughter of the assassinated independence-era leader Tom Mboya, Odero was allegedly promised the promotion by Kibaki at her mother's funeral in January 2009. Mboya and Angawa were divided on their assessment of Justice Aggrey Muchelule, also a career judge who had most recently served as Chief Magistrate at the Milimani Commercial Courts, Nairobi's busiest venue for commercial disputes. Angawa alleged that Muchelule was a subtle and efficient taker of bribes in connection with the commercial cases over which he presided. Mboya saw him as a hard worker who tried to enforce the law fairly and was deserving of the promotion. Muchelule has a good reputation among prosecutors as a very intelligent judge with an excellent knowledge of the law. COMMENT ¶9. (SBU) The highly politicized and largely disappointing selection of judges for some of Kenya's most important judicial posts serves only to highlight the urgent need for judicial reform. A more transparent and inclusive JSC would be a step in the right direction, as would making the judicial budget autonomous rather than controlled by the executive branch. When Parliament reconvenes, we will renew our engagement with the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on this and related judicial reform issues. When the new Minister of Justice is appointed, the Ambassador will also raise judicial reform as an urgent agenda item in his first meetings with the new Minister. As the LSK noted in its brief on the proposed Judicial Service Bill, "a country can struggle with a bad executive; it can even survive a bad legislature, but when the judiciary ceases to be the guarantor of citizens' rights, then a country is in danger of degenerating into lawlessness." RANNEBERGER