I regret chairing commission that sacked judges – Ringera

Retired Justice Aaron Ringera has said he regrets chairing the committee that conducted radical surgery on the judiciary and led to several judges losing their jobs without being heard.

Ringera, who was interviewed Tuesday by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for the top job at the judiciary, said his experience as the chair of the committee was painful, but the action they took as a committee was based on the law that applied at that time, adding that he would do things differently given a chance.

Ringera, who also served the country as a solicitor general in 1999 under President Daniel Arap Moi’s regime, began his bid to succeeded Dr Willy Mutunga on a rather haunting note, especially when he was put to task on a report popularly known as the “radical surgery” of the judiciary back in the year 2003.

Ringera who is also eying to be the president of the supreme court, was hard pressed on why names of individual judges and magistrates were publicised soon after his report was handed over to the then Chief Justice.

The report that implicated a number of judges was thought to have been politically motivated through the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs when the current Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi was in charge of the docket.

Twenty-three out of 45 court of appeal and high court judges, as well as 82 out of 254 magistrates were declared corrupt in the report.

Ringera was also questioned on why from time to time he opted to serve the executive, especially when he left the judiciary for the post of solicitor general and later as the Kenya Anti Corruption Authority boss.