Under the Supreme Court Act, No. 7 of 2011, the Supreme Court was established as the highest court in Kenya, thanks to a presidential election petition that was filed by Raila Odinga when he lost the 2007 election.
Under the 2010 Constitution, the Court has seven seasoned judges who have served in various legal capacities and are currently sitting on a bench that will determine the presidential election petition that was filed by Raila, challenging Ruto's win in the August 9 race.
Here is a list of judges who have served longest at the highest court of the land.
Dr Smokin Wanjala
In June 2012, he was among five justices nominated to the inaugural bench of the Supreme Court of Kenya by the Judicial Service Commission out of 25 who were interviewed.
In September 2017, he was one of four judges who voted to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta's win in the August 2017 presidential election.
Justice Wanjala holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B, Hons.) from the University of Nairobi, a Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law, a Master of Laws (LL.M) from Columbia University, New York and a Doctorate in Law (PhD) from the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Before joining the Supreme Court of Kenya, Justice Wanjala was a Law Lecturer at the University of Nairobi for twenty (20) years (1986-2004).
Njoki Ndung'u
Justice Njoki was appointed to the inaugural Supreme Court on June 11, 2011. Has seen through all presidential petitions starting 2013. She worked for the defunct Organization of African Unity, (OAU) as a political Anaylst between 2000 and 2002.
In the 9th Parliament, under the late President Mwai Kibaki, Justice Njoki Ndung'u was nominated as an MP under National Alliance Rainbow Coalition between 2003-2007.
William Ouko
Ouko was nominated by the JSC for the seat of a Judge of the Supreme Court on May 5, 2021 and was later appointed to the current position on May 14 same year.
He served as the President of the Court of Appeal prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, a position to which he was elected on 9 March 2018.
Mohamed Khadhar Ibrahim
Justice Ibrahim was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court in June 2012. On June 10th this year, outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 250 (2) (c), as read with Article 171 (2) (b), of the Constitution, I, Uhuru Kenyatta, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, appoint Mohamed Khadhar Ibrahim to be a member of the Judicial Service Commission,” read the gazette notice.
Isaac Lenaola
Justice Lenaola was appointed judge of the Supreme Court in 2017. This is his second time he is witnessing presidential election petition.
He is among the judges who threw out Uhuru's 2017 election win.
Philomena Mbete Mwilu
Mwilu is the Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya and Vice President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, a position she assumed October 28, 2016. She served as Acting Chief Justice and President of the Supreme court of Kenya from 11 January 2021 to 19 May 2021.
She is also among the judges who Uhuru had put on radar for annulling his election win. This will be Justice Mwilu's second time she will be sitting on a bench to hear presidential election petition.
Martha Koome
Justice Martha Koome was appointed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on May 21, 2021 to become the first woman to hold the office. The current presidential election petition will be first among her high voltage cases she has handled since she took over as head of the Judiciary from retired CJ David Maraga.
The Supreme Court of Kenya was formed following the hotly disputed 2007 General Election which led to chaos and bloodshed.
Initiators of the Court were the two current political nemesis, Ruto and Raila, the then pillars of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party which belonged the Pentagon that challenged the late President Mwai Kibaki's victory.
Kibaki and Raila later put aside their differences to form a coalition government where part of the peace deal was to review of the constitution. This, through Kriegler Commission, saw the birth of Supreme Court.
"IREC recommends that a separate law be enacted to facilitate the establishment of a special Electoral Dispute Resolution Court to handle appeal matters from the initial stages of dispute resolution by the ECK," read part of the Kriegler Commission.
