On June 16, 2016, Dr Willy Mutunga resigned as the chief justice of Kenya and the president of the supreme court of Kenya.
The law requires him to resign when he hits 70 years of age but he resigned a year earlier (he is 69) to give Judicial service commission enough time to scout for another CJ before the country goes for another elections.
Leaders can learn a lot from this act of putting the interest of the country first before personal interest.
Kenyans are not new to the phrases," I would rather die than resign" or "I would rather go to jail than resign" coming from our leaders who purport to put the interest of the country first .
Ironically, those who have been on record saying they would rather die than resign are always plastered with allegations of corruption.
The second lesson Kenyans can learn from the former chief justice is that one do not need to say yes to everything that he or she is offered.
We should learn to say "NO." Even after chairing the negotiations that led to the formation of the triumphant national alliance of rainbow coalition, NARC party that took power in 2002, Willy Mutunga declined an offer to serve as chairperson of NARC.
On April 8, 2003, he again turned down an appointment by Mwai Kibaki to the University council of Jommo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, JKUAT saying that he lacked the right qualifications for the job.
This shows how selfless the former CJ was. We should not greed control our choices. It is because of greed that we have heard cases of quack doctors.
Willy Mutunga was and is still an activist. He has championed for human rights ever since he started teaching law at the University of Nairobi. He was part of the team that formed University staff union, USU.
When Ngugi Wa Thiong'o was incarcerated by the Kenya government in 1977, Mutunga organised campaigns for reimbursement reinstatement of Ngugi to his former job of teaching at the UoN.
On July 29, 1982, Mutunga was dismissed from UoN and detained. He was released on October 20, 1983 and then he went to exile in Canada where, together with other exiled Kenyans like Maina Kiai, Kiraitu Murungi and Makau Mutua he formed Kenya Human rights commission, KHRC.
The forth lesson we can learn from Willy Mutunga is the act of doing the best. Mutunga's tenure as the chief justice has seen Kenyans getting access to justice.
We the judiciary has also had massive infrastructure, with construction of more courts.
Truth be told, the judiciary has seen massive improvement under the watch of Mutunga. He has served Kenyans well and surely he has left a legacy.