An excerpt of the speech delivered by Chief Justice David Maraga at s graduation ceremony in Catholic University of East Africa on October 18th narrates his difficulty in upbringing at the interior parts of Nyamira.
The President of the Supreme Court explained how he spent the better part of his life in liquor dens only to change much later in life.
"Having been born into a rather poor family in Nyamira, I got to wear my first pair of shoes when I was admitted to Secondary School, and that was only because it was compulsory. Worse still, I got to wear my first pair of shorts only after circumcision, at the age of 10.
"It is perhaps a good thing that those were not the days of today’s pervasive selfies and paparazzi, otherwise I wonder what pictures of the Chief Justice as a young man would be circulating in the social media today. There is one I took with my first car, a Volkswagen beetle which looks interesting. Perhaps I should have it tweeted an I see the reaction.
"Although my parents were not Christians, I was baptized and joined the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1965 while in Primary School, thanks mainly to the great influence of the SDA in the area. However, I got into bad company in Secondary School and slipped in the spiritual sense. While in that bad company, I drunk hard and, except for providing for the bare necessities, I ignored my family and literally mark-timed for about 20 years.
" I did not bother to further my professional career.But all that time the Spirit of God kept prodding me to return to Church. When I eventually returned, God pointed me to a path of unwavering purpose that has brought me to where I am today.
"It is after I discovered my purpose in life that I realised I needed to do a masters degree and I went to class after 34 years.With this new path, some of my friends started mockingly calling me Pastor because I refused to buy them alcohol. In the Seventh-day faith, drinking or giving others alcohol is a sin. I found that I could not continue keeping their company and still be a Christian.I started organizing my life," read his speech
And so changed is Maraga that be even missed from Supreme Court presidential pretrial conference in election petition last year due to his strict adherence to the Sabbath.
SDA church is common in Nyanza because the first missionaries settled in Kamagambo, not far from Kisii town.
Mr. Maraga, who was born in Nyamwetureko village, graduated from the University of Nairobi in 1977 and would do his masters 34 years later.
He's the first Kisii to hold such powerful position in the history of the country and the second CJ since the promulgation of the new constitution.
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