This archive report was first published on 6 November 2019.
Published on November 6, 2019, the dispute between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Chief Justice David Maraga over the fate of 41 judges nominated to sit in the Appeal, Labour and Lands courts has escalated.
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has denied that it received adverse intelligence reports about the nominees, contrary to claims made by President Kenyatta.
According to the JSC, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) had promised to provide the reports but failed to do so, despite being given seven days to provide the particulars of the alleged adverse reports.
The JSC said it wrote back to the NIS on July 5, 2019, and gave it seven days to provide the reports, but none were received.
Chief Registrar Anne Amadi, who is also the JSC secretary, swore in an affidavit that the commission did not receive any of the requested reports from the NIS.
The dispute began when President Kenyatta failed to gazette the judges after saying he had received adverse reports on some of them.
President Kenyatta defended his decision, saying it would be 'irresponsible on his part to appoint the judges who enjoy security of tenure given the integrity concerns'.
Lawyer Adrian Kamotho went to the High Court to compel the President to make the appointments, but the President filed a replying affidavit questioning why the JSC never considered the adverse information against the unnamed applicants.
