Skip to main content

Fred Ngatia Mellows JSC Panel in CJ interview

Senior Counsel Fred Ngatia might be Kenya’s Chief Justice. The interview started on a calculative cadence, unstiffened tone, as Ngatia was taken to task over his ambition to succeed Maraga.

The CJ aspirant demonstrated how he had read broadly – when he recounted his philosophical skills and linked the knowledge he had gained to the legal realm. He told the panel that he restored harmony at the University of Nairobi, when the institution was bedeviled by rampant indiscipline cases. 

“I started working with the universities to be able to find a solution on how to deal with the 80,000 students. I came up with a handbook that helped to curb this issue of the perennial problem of indiscipline,” he told JSC.

Legal experts read much from the past advocate-client relationship between Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Senior Counsel Fred Ngatia. Former DPP Philip Murgor, who is among the CJ aspirants, had moved to court seeking the recusal of Mwilu from the interviewing panel.

If appointed, Ngatia will be the second Chief Justice to be appointed outside the Judiciary. The first Chief Justice to be appointed out of the judicial confines was Dr. Willy Mutunga.

Ngatia is banking on his 41 years of experience in the legal practice. He told JSC on Tuesday that during the nascent days of his legal practice he helped settle a boundary dispute pitting Kenya against Sudan, and added that he is best suited to be Kenya’s Chief Justice.

He claimed credit for researching more on boundary issues and enabling Kenya to acquire an extra area measuring 9,680 square meters. 

Ngatia accredited himself for enabling the acquisition of land for Kasarani Sports Complex. 

“Perhaps I should say I started my legal career in 1980 and allocated many difficult briefs among them the acquisition of the land where Kasarani Sports Compex stands,” Ngatia stated.

Ngatia’s Pledge

He has promised to move the Judiciary to the next level, which in his view can be done by expeditious finalization of cases. He cited South Africa which has a Case Management System, which keeps track of cases from the filing to the termination of a case.

Ngatia has pledged to complete criminal cases within 6 months, end hearing delays and end case backlogs. 

Ngatia’s Legal representation in Landmark Cases 

Ngatia was among the battery of lawyers who represented President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Supreme Court, after Raila Odinga successfully petitioned against his 2017 presidential win. 

In 2018, Ngatia was among the lawyers who participated in a case at the Supreme Court that saw the abolishment of mandatory death sentence. 

He once represented the National Assembly against the senate on an advisory opinion on the Division of Revenue Bill. In 2019, Ngatia was selected by the Council of Governors to represent them on the Division of Revenue Bill. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Human Noise Kills Marine Species, as revealed by Scientists

Scientists have warned that the discord of noise made by humans is harming marine species .  A comprehensive assessment revealed that large noise from human activities was as harmful as pollution, overfishing and climate change .  The study that was conducted by the Journal Science exposed how marine animals can hear from far distances than they can see or smell. According to a report published in the Guardian, most of the marine life uses sound to catch prey as well as attracting a mating partner.  Prof Carlos Duarte of King Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia argued that: “Marine animal can only sea up to around 10 meters, smell up to around a hundred meters, but they can hear across the entire ocean basins.” The research concluded that sound “is very important in the marine ecosystems, and noise is pervasive, affecting animals at all levels .” The increasing cacophony in the marine habitat is interfering with how marine animals respond to various survival...

Carbon dioxide to Make Jet Fuel, Study Reveals

Photo Source: twitter.com Aircrafts release a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which contributes to climate change. A research that was conducted by Science News and reported on December, 22 2020 stated that there was a new iron-based catalyst that has been invented to convert carbon dioxide into jet fuel. It is only a matter of time that carbon dioxide pumped to the atmosphere by planes could be sucked and used to power the same. The air travel’s footprint in carbon emissions could be tremendously curtailed, if the carbon dioxide that is released is recycled to generate fuel. As per Science News reports, Air transport contributes to about 12 percent of the entire transportation carbon-related emissions. Unlike cars, aircrafts cannot carry bigger batteries which can be run on electricity generated from wind or solar panels. The current breakthrough in the conversion of carbon dioxide to fuel involves cheap ingredients such as iron and transformed through a single s...

Why World Tycoons Should Emulate Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, in the Battle against Climate Change

The silent biggest global pandemic is global warming. Global problem deserves global attention; and that is why world moguls and leaders should use their influence to initiate change that can positively impact the world. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has consistently advocated for environment conservation and has been a key personality in the battle against climate change . Gates keen focus has been to increasing access to clean electricity in remote parts of the world. As a key defender of the environment, he is quoted by the Guardian saying that: “The idea of adding new electricity capacity- you can’t just go build coal plants.” The Guardian reported that Gates likes using private jets because he can get affordable fuel for flight. He revealed that he has already footed the bill of carbon footprint to a group dubbed Climeworks , a firm that captures up direct air in Iceland. Gates pointed out that the future of vehicles travels lie with electric cars; but excluded the el...