Recruitment of Judges in Kenya: The Intricacies of Gauging a Candidate’s Integrity

When Kenya was at the verge of an implosion due to the 2007 Post election violence, there was general consensus that one of the contributing factors was the low confidence level the Kenyan public had in the judiciary. Rebuilding public confidence in the judiciary has been a key focus of post 2010 constitutional dispensation in Kenya. It is therefore not by accident that integrity is a key criterion in the recruitment of Judges. This paper discusses the historical underpinnings of integrity in the Kenyan Judiciary then lays out the current legal and normative framework of gauging integrity in the post 2010 dispensation. Despite having in place an unassailable constitutional and statutory legal framework on gauging integrity of candidates, the process is not free from challenges. The existing framework is neither fool proof nor has it yielded the desired results. There is therefore need to inject into the framework political will and more innovative approaches.