The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is currently in the process of selecting Kenya’s next Chief Justice. Last week, the commission concluded the interviews for the Chief Justice position even as a court order was issued against the commission. The order stopped it from conducting interviews to fill the vacant position of a Supreme Court judge.
The commission has since filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal. Meanwhile, with every sitting during the interviews, the JSC members are raking in heavy bucks. According to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), each of the JSC members earns between Sh. 150,000 and Sh. 250,000. This is considered as a responsibility allowance.
The commissioners on the interviewing panel also take home an allowance of about Sh. 40,000 per sitting. There is a limit to the sittings, however, with the SRC putting a maximum of 8 sittings in a month.
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The JSC commissioners are also entitled to special tasks allowance of Sh. 20,000 to Sh. 25,000 each per sitting for disciplinary cases and recruitment purposes.
This implies that for the 10 days that the commissioners were conducting interviews for the vacant Chief Justice position, they earned between Sh. 200,000 and Sh. 250,000 each. This is money earned besides the members’ monthly pay in their respective roles. For example, apart from the amount earned from the interviews, the Attorney General Paul Kihara will be taking home an additional Sh. 700,000 from his AG role, plus allowances and benefits associated with this role.Â
In the same vein, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu who did not apply for the CJ position will take home between Sh. 800,000 and Sh. 1.2 million.
Justice Mohamed Warsame will earn between Sh. 680,000 and Sh. 1 million plus allowances from his role as Court of Appeal judge. Justice David Majanja, the boy from Alliance High School, will earn between Sh. 600,000 and Sh. 900,000 plus allowances.