The search for Kenya’s next chief justice entered its fifth day on Friday with senior counsel Philip Kipchirchir Murgor facing the panel.
It became a somewhat heated debate on the panel with Murgor finding questions from Acting Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu ambiguous for him.
“You have lost me and I am not sure even if you are with the question,” answered Murgor when he was asked about how he would utilize the tools of strict constitutional interpretation.
As the acting CJ sought answers specific to her questions, Murgor defended himself from the interruptions made by the DCJ.
“Madam, I will answer your question in the way I see fit,” he replied.
When he was asked whether there was a vacuum in the judiciary, Murgor said the lacuna existed because there was no Chief Justice.
“I am not saying that the acting CJ is not doing her best, I am simply saying it’s not the same as having a CJ. Anyone in an acting position is acting for a temporary time,” he answered.
“It is not an opinion but a fact that there’s no substantive Chief Justice in office. The limitations are found in the word Acting – run an institution and your term is based on a substantive holder in the holder. Everybody views you through a certain lens, as being temporary,” he added.
Murgor said his arrest in 1982 in relation to the famous coup played a major role in his legal career.
“One morning in the month of August I got caught up in the coup in 1982 I found myself arrested with a group of 60 students who were found to have participated in the grouping,” Murgor said.
He said he was incarcerated and missed a lot of classes but was later released and went back to University having missed a lot due to that case.
Murgor was born in 1961 in Elgeyo Marakwet County. He holds a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in law both from the University of Nairobi.
The senior counsel was admitted to the bar in 1986 and started off as a public prosecutor.
Over the years Murgor has amassed over 34 years’ experience in the legal field.
In 2003, Murgor was appointed as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) where he served for two years.
He later returned to the DPP’s office in 2018 following his appointment by the current DPP Noordin Haji as a special prosecutor.
In 2017 he unsuccessfully vied for the presidency on a United Democratic Movement ticket.
In October 2019, Sarah Wairimu Kamotho was charged with the murder of her Dutch billionaire husband Tob Cohen.
Lawyer Philip Murgor was allowed by to represent Ms Kamotho in the trial.
Murgor is among ten candidates who were shortlisted by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in the search for Kenya’s next head of the judiciary following the retirement of former chief justice David Maraga early this year.
