President Ruto to appoint six judges, promises to restructure CRB, CBC in first day at work

William Ruto's first act as President was to appoint the six judges who were overlooked for promotion by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in June 2021 despite having been recommended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The six; Aggrey Muchelule, Weldon Korir, Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, and Judith Omange were part of a cohort of 40 judicial officers who were eligible for promotion after being vetted and recommended by JSC. However, President Kenyatta said the six were underqualified for the roles.

Muchelule, Korir, Ngugi and Odunga were recommended for new roles at the Court of Appeal while Kiago and Omange were meant to take up positions at the Environment and Lands Court.

Speaking at the Moi International Sports Complex in Kasarani on Tuesday just moments after taking the oath of office, President Ruto vowed that his administration would work closely with the Judiciary to ensure fair, impartial and independent administration of justice for all Kenyans.

The first step of this, President Ruto added, would be to appoint the six judges, so that they can carry out their constitutional mandate and to allocate an extra Ksh.3 billion to the Judiciary for the financial year 2022/23.

'To further demonstrate my commitment to the independence of the judiciary, this afternoon, I will appoint the six judges already nominated for appointment to the Court of Appeal which was done three years ago by the Judicial Service Commission," said the Head of State.

Dr Ruto likewise added that he will preside over the six judges' swearing-in on Wednesday to make their appointments official.

"I shall preside over their swearing-in so that they can get down to the business of serving Kenyans," said President Ruto.

President Ruto similarly ordered that the budget of the National Police Service (NPS) be transferred from the office of the President to that of the Inspector General (IG) of Police who will act as the accounting officer.

According to the Commander-in-Chief, NPS hasn't been living up to its full potential owing to continued financial dependence on the Office of the President.

"I have instructed that the instruments conferring financial autonomy to the National Police Service by transferring their budget from the Office of the President and designating the IG as the accounting officer be placed on my desk for signature this afternoon," he said.

"Financial independence of the people will give impetus against the fight against corruption and the political weaponisation of the criminal justice system, an undertaking." 

As he decried the high cost of living being witnessed across the country, which he attributed to soaring costs of production in the agricultural sector, President Ruto also announced the reduction in the price of a 50Kg bag of fertiliser to Ksh.3,500.

"For the short rains, we have already made arrangements to make 1.4 million bags of fertiliser available at Ksh.3500 for a 50 kg bag down from the current Ksh.6,500; those will be available from next week," he said.

While noting that financial inclusion and access to credit are critical in addressing the fundamental factors of the cost of living, job creation and people’s well-being, the President stated that his administration will work with Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) to create a new system of credit score rating that provides borrowers with an opportunity to manage on their credit worthiness.

"I have been assured by the Central Bank that work on how to ease this burden without compromising the security of the financial system is underway."

The Head of State correspondingly noted that his administration will establish a Ministry of Cooperatives and SME Development to ensure that every small business has secure property rights, access to finance and a supportive regulatory framework.

"We will leverage on our competitive advantage in leather and textile to roll out our labour-intensive Agro-processing industrialisation program. This will start with the Dongo Kundu and Naivasha Industrial parks," he said.

"This afternoon, I will be issuing instructions for clearing of all goods and other attendant operational issues to revert to the port of Mombasa. This will restore thousands of jobs in the city of Mombasa."

President Ruto also pledged to address the plight of Kenyans living in the Diaspora noting that their remittances will not be the only thing that will be given priority.

"I pledge to elevate diaspora issues at a ministry level, strengthen diaspora services in all embassies, work with parliament to set up a committee that will exclusively deal with diaspora issues, set up a mechanism for public participation by the Diaspora and work closely with the IEBC to expand and enhance diaspora participation in elections," he said.

He also vowed to augment Kenya's development by having the national government collaborate with county governments noting that inter-governmental synergy has the potential to change Kenya for the better.

"Because of this realization, I have no hesitation in accelerating the transfer of outstanding functions to counties, together with the attendant resources," said the President.

"To promote budget efficiency and minimize disruptions and delays in devolved service delivery, my administration commits to take necessary measures to secure the timely disbursement of revenue allocations to county governments."

"There is a robust conversation in the country on education, in particular the implementation of the CBC curriculum. Public participation is critical in this matter. We will establish an Education Reform Taskforce in the Presidency which will be launched in the coming weeks. It will collect views from all key players in line with the constitutional demand of public participation," he said.

The president also promised changes to CBC that he said will ease anxiety for parents.

"We are particularly alive to the anxieties of parents on the twin transitions of the last 8-4-4 class and the first CBC class in January next year. I assure that there will be a solution to the matter before then."