North Mugirango MP Charles Geni has accused the Judicial Service Commission of allegedly colluding with the State to block the shortlisting of renowned scholar, Prof Makau Mutua for the Chief Justice position.
Mutua reportedly applied for the position alongside Supreme Court Judge Jackton Ojwang but their names were conspicuously missing from the list of six people shortlisted by JSC despite their impressive CVs.
And on Wednesday in a phone interview Mr Geni termed the selection exercise ‘opaque’ and challenged JSC to give a satisfactory explanation to members of the public.
“All Kenyans have a right to be interviewed if they qualify for any advertised position. I am shocked that Prof Mutua was not among those shortlisted despite his impressive academic achievements,” he said.
“JSC should desist from hoodwinking Kenyans and I demand that they give us a reason as to why he was not shortlisted. We want independent minds to work in the Judiciary to avoid future crisis in our political arena,” he added.
He, however, blamed the government for allegedly hijacking the selection programme by ordering the removal of applicants perceived to be critics of the regime.
“We all know that Mutua has been a fierce critic of the government and that could be the reason behind the bias. This isn’t the right way for the government to do things,” he said.
However, lawyer Nyambega Mose has defended the JSC decision saying Mutua’s oversea's experience could be the reason behind his omission.
“I think Mutua has never practiced in the country or any commonwealth nation which is mandatory. That could have guided the decision by JSC,” he said.