The Judicial Service Commission, led by Chief Justice David Maraga, bowed to public pressure and opened up interviews to fill 11 vacancies in the Court of Appeal to the media and the public.
Earlier on, the CJ had restricted media access to the vetting sessions citing limited space in its secretariat offices at Re-Insurance Plaza.
“We will adhere to what the constitution says,” CJ Maraga admitted on Monday before asking the media to leave the boardroom.
The exercise started as a closed-door affair after Chief Justice David Maraga kicked the media out of the boardroom where the interviews were being held.
Justices Aggrey Muchelule, Msagha Mbogholi, Mumbi Ngugi and Abida Ali-Aroni on Monday faced a JSC panel as the recruitment of 11 Court of Appeal judges got underway.
The Court of Appeal has only 19 judges despite an approved limit of 30. The number of judges in the court will reduce later this year when Justices Erastus Githinji and Alnashir Visram retire.
On Tuesday, Justices Weldon Korir, Boaz Olao, Elijah Njagi, and Maureen Onyango faced the JSC panel with Justices Kariuki Mwangi, George Odunga, Stephen Radido and John Mutungi appearing before the vetting team on Wednesday.
The interviews are scheduled to end on July 1.
The Commission is also set to interview 63 shortlisted candidates for slots at the Environment and Land Division of the High Court between July 15 and August 5.
Twenty-nine candidates have also been shortlisted for interviews to available posts at the Employment and Labour Relations Division of the High Court
The interviewers of the JSC are; Justice Maraga (chairperson), Mercy Deche (vice-chairperson), Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, Justice Mohammed Warsame, Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki, Emily Ominde, Patrick Gichohi, Felix Koskei, Prof Olive Mugenda, Justice David Majanja, Macharia Njeru, and Anne Amadi (JSC secretary).
