President Court of Appeal Justice William Ouko after taking oath of office at the Supreme Court on June 26, 2018. His vision is that judges administer justice fairly, professionally, consistently, expeditiously and efficiently. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |NATION MEDIA GROUP 
When Justice William Ouko was elected president, his little nephew aged five years asked the mother what had happened to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The young boy, he added, then wrote a long shopping list and was waiting for the day he would be taken to State House.
What the boy did not know was that his uncle had been elected President of the Court of Appeal, the country’s second highest court, and that Mr Kenyatta was the President of Kenya.
The two posts cannot be compared, but the role Justice Ouko officially assumed this week is important. And, just like President Kenyatta, Justice Ouko will serve a five-year term.
The 56-year-old judge was elected by his colleagues in March this year to replace the outgoing first President of the Court, Justice Paul Kihara Kariuki, following his appointment to the position of Attorney-General.
LAGS BEHIND
In his speech immediately after the election, the judge agreed that the Appellate Court, in many respects, lags behind in terms of capacity building for improving operations and efficiency. He urged judges to rally behind him as he outlined his vision.
“Despite the shift in agenda, our focus might still be on the "hardware" — the physical and procedural aspects of our work. But we need to also consider, even more seriously, the "software" — the extent to which our personal attitudes, institutional practices and beliefs, hinder or promote our ability to realise our vision,” he told the judges.
VISION
Justice Ouko told the Nation that, as is the expectation of every Kenyan who goes to the court, it is his vision that judges administer justice fairly, professionally, consistently, expeditiously and efficiently.
“To achieve this, it is my commitment to foster a work environment that is dignified and underpinned by a culture of respect, collegiality, sensitivity, consideration and brotherhood and sisterhood,” he said. He added that because of the binding nature of the court’s decisions — being the final court in most cases — Appellate judges cannot afford to sacrifice quality.
“Indeed, quality, independence and efficiency are the hallmark of a competent and effective justice system,” he said.
MORE JUDGES
The judge has promised to push for employment of more judges to the court which, at the moment, has 19 judges instead of the 30 stipulated by the Constitution. “With 19 instead of 30 judges, we are on the brink of violating Article 164 (1) of the Constitution, which puts the minimum number of Appeal Court judges at 12,” he said.
He promised to decentralise more courts, especially in Nakuru and Eldoret. Currently, the court has stations in Kisumu, Nyeri Malindi and Nairobi.
He said it was regrettable that Justice Mohamed Warsame, with whom he was elected on the same day, was yet to take his place in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), adding that the Court of Appeal is unrepresented in the commission.
The election of Justice Warsame was delayed after he refused to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Justice for vetting.
Justice Ouko said he plans to address the perennial problem of case backlog, adding that the court has identified old appeals and applications whose hearings will be prioritised.
“Had it not been for election petition appeals which, as you all know, have strict timelines, the court would have worked on these cases way before the deadline. We would have met the Chief Justice’s directive to finalise all cases that are five and more years old before December 2018,” he said.
He disclosed that Appeal Court judges were determined to complete, in the next three weeks, all applications for certificates to appeal to the Supreme Court and all single judge applications.
BUILD BRIDGES
The judge promised to build bridges with other courts, and ensure that their decisions do not conflict but, rather, develop jurisprudence.
The judge promised to build bridges with other courts, and ensure that their decisions do not conflict but, rather, develop jurisprudence.
He said Court of Appeal judges would be involved in community activities such as partnering with the academia for delivery of guest lectures at universities and supporting the less fortunate through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
One of his favourite sports is tennis, which he would still be playing but for his knees.
“I then took up golf but I was forced to abandon it after making a succession of embarrassing swings.”
The judge loves reading and listening to music. “All kinds of music,” he says.
Justice Ouko holds a Master of Arts degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice (MACJ), Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Legal Practice from Kenya School of Law.
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