Chief Justice Martha Koome joined Indian Chief Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud on the first bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 14.
Koome and other delegates from the Supreme Court of Kenya joined the bench in India to witness the Constitution hearing.
While welcoming Koome, India's Chief Justice Chandrachud highlighted her achievements including becoming the first female President of Kenya's Supreme Court.
“We are very honoured to have in our midst Chief Justice Martha Koome, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kenya," the Indian CJ stated
Lady Justice Koome was also recognised for the controversial ruling that sided LGBTQ community of Kenya according the community a right of association.
The Indian CJ added that Koome had also taken part in the writing of Constitutional Law including issues pertaining to India.
“She has written extensively including on issues pertaining to Constitutional Law in India. She recently wrote a judgment on the extent to which basic structure doctrine will apply in Kenya,” the CJ noted.
Before the hearing began, CJ Koome and the other Kenyan delegates were briefed on the Shiv Sena case, which involved a dispute between two Indian political parties.
“We have given her a brief wrap-up of what is being argued here. We have been as objective as possible in trying to tell her what the matter is," CJ Chandrachud stated.
Aside from the highlighted achievements, in her first 100 days in office, Lady Justice embarked on a quest to ensure rapid delivery of justice by pushing for the hiring of more judges in a bid to reduce the backlog of cases in the country.
Koome also advocated for more funding of the judiciary after its budget was slashed during President Uhuru Kenyatta's reign.
Notably, Koome also implored the use of technology as a tool to improve the efficiency of the judiciary.
She took over from Emeritus David Maraga in 2021, and her biggest assignment was the determination of the Presidential petition filed in August 2022 by Kenya's opposition chief Raila Odinga.
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the victory of President William Ruto, paving way for his swearing-in as Kenya's 5th Head of State.
Ruto Appoints 20 New High Court Judges [LIST] News Just In
