When Dr Willy Mutunga takes over his next assignment as the Commonwealth Envoy to the Maldives, he leaves behind a rich legacy at the Judiciary, an institution he headed for five years.
The 69-year-old Mutunga came at the helm of the Judiciary in 2011 after emerging the best candidate in a competitive interview that attracted 10 other applicants, taking over the responsibilities from Evans Gicheru.
His major task after the appointment was to reform a judicial system that was on it knees, grappling with over 1 million case backlog, poorly remunerated judges, poor infrastructure and runaway corruption.
Few believed that he was the right man for the job. His lack od experience as a judge made his doubters bold enough to question his ability, for he had spent almost the entire of his life at academia and civil society. Some even saw his appointment from outside the judiciary as a humiliation to the judges who were in the system by then. But the man from Kitui was not deterred by the noise.
There came his reform agenda;
First, Dr Mutunga under his glittering tenure as the CJ ensured that the case backlog that the judiciary had been grappling with reduced tremendously from an estimated over 1 million cases in 2011 to 420,000 cases in 2016 and reasserted the independence of the Judiciary which had succumbed to influence from the Executive.
Further, he restored public confidence in the Judiciary, a system that had become unreliable as Kenyans opted to settle disputes out of court.
The former Chief Justice ensured that there was an improved access to justice as many courts were built in other parts of the country with many new judges and magistrates appointed to serve in those courts.
Dr Mutunga reorganised the internal structure of the judiciary to improve its efficiency.
This was felt as the systems became smooth in operations and all the bureaucracies got rid off.
He also led in the transition to the new Constitution which was promulgated just around 8 months before he assumed office.
His landmark ruling on the Presidential petition was his momentous time in his career.
Despite criticisms to the verdict, he stood his ground and says he never regrets giving the ruling.
Most importantly, Dr Mutunga will go to the Kenyan history books as the first senior civil servant to retire voluntarily at a time when his colleagues are fighting for their lives at the Judiciary even after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Going by these achievements, Mutunga probably is the best CJ the country has ever had.