The belated passive statement of Chief Justice Martha Koome to the first search and arrest of sitting High Court Judges while in the precincts of Court has disappointed many and left her legacy in jeopardy. It is exactly two months since CJ Koome assumed office as the First Female Chief Justice on 24th May 2021. In that short time, CJ Martha Koome has given many observers cause to wonder if she will attain the high bar set by her predecessors since promulgation of Constitution of Kenya 2010.
We adjudge CJ Martha Koome to have performed below average and let the Judiciary down in the following instances which occurred in her first 60 days in office: –
1. On 1st June 2021, when President Uhuru Kenyatta attacked the Judiciary in his Madaraka Day speech saying it “has tested our constitutional limits” and cited the Presidential Election Petition and BBI Case, both cases having been a litigant, CJ Martha Koome did not even pretend to defend the Judiciary or remind the President that Judiciary does not answer to the Executive.
2. On 3rd June 2021, when President Uhuru Kenyatta gazetted 34 Judges leaving out 6 JSC nominees who are all current Senior Judicial Officers and Judges, CJ Martha Koome departed from the position taken by the CJ Office (under CJ David Maraga) and attended the rushed swearing in of the select Judges where she led the Members of the Judiciary in bowing to the President.
3. On 4th June 2021, when CJ Martha Koome spoke on the matter of the omission of the 6 Judges, the matter had been overtaken by events and she neither made any demands or gave a deadline to the President or warn him against blatant disregard of court orders already issued on the matter. As a result, the appointment of the six (6) judges now remain in limbo.
4. On 18th June 2021, Martha Koome met Nairobi Metropolitan Authority (NMS) Director General Maj. Gen. Badi in the company of Former Nairobi County Secretary Peter Kariuki as evidenced by official photographs together. Mr. Kariuki is an accused person in a graft case pending before magistrates court and is out on bail. In addition, cases are pending in courts challenging the legality of NMS and a Military Officer sitting in the Cabinet.
5. On 9th July 2021, barely a month after meeting Mr. Peter Kariui who is an accused person in a pending corruption case before Chief Magistrate Hon Douglas Ogoti in Nairobi Anti-Corruption Court, CJ Koome transferred the Chief Magistrate from the Anti-Corruption Court to head a Station in Embu disrupting the prosecution of Mr. Kariuki and his co-accused. This will likely delay conclusion of the case against Mr. Peter Kariuki.

Chief Justice Martha Koome with NMS Director Maj. Gen. Badi and Former Nairobi County Secretary Peter Kariuki.
6. On Friday 16th July 2021, CJ Martha Koome chaired her first National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ). In blatant disregard of provisions of S. 34 of the Judicial Services Act, she “invited” CS of Interior and National Security and NMS Director and “excluded” Chairperson of LSK Nelson Havi who is a statutory member of the Council per s.34(2) of the Act. Chairman of LSK has since been removed from the list of NCAJ Members in the Judiciary Website, leaving many wondering whether she let her personal issues with the LSK Chair Nelson Havi who questioned her suitability for CJ impair her judgement. Further, at the NCAJ press briefing, CJ Koome likened Judiciary to “Son” and the Executive to the “Father” bringing to question the depth of her appreciation of the independence of Judiciary.
7. On 23rd July 2021, more than 24 hours after the search of the chambers and the person of the two High Court Judges, their arrest, questioning and recording of statements at DCI, CJ Martha Koome retrieved her voice only to issue a statement that did not as much as condemn the castigation and vilification of the Judges or demand that the members of NCAJ involved, DPP and IG, commit to respect and uphold the Independence of Judiciary or resign or be removed.
Thus, as we await the end of her First 100 Days in Office on Friday 3rd September 2021, for the above reasons, we score the performance of CJ Martha Koome, the First Female Chief Kenya, in her first 2 months in office below average. We also express the muted concerns of many in the legal fraternity that unless her camaraderie with the executive and its agents is checked, CJ Martha Koome risks reversing most of the gains made by her predecessors in securing the independence of the Judiciary from the executive.