By Roy Hezron
After the University of Nairobi’s dean, School of Law Prof. Patricia Mbote was tasked to explain integrity issues during an interview for the position of Chief Justice most recently, the ball will now be rolling to Daystar University’s dean in the School of Law Prof. Wekesa Moni.
Prof. Wekesa who will be facing the nine member panel of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) chaired by Prof. Olive Mugenda on April 22, 2021 at the Supreme Court is currently an Associate Professor of Law and the dean in the School of Law at Daystar University and holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Law which he acquired in 2010 and 2005 respectively from the University of Nairobi.
In addition, he has two Bachelor’s degrees, law and education which he acquired in 2002 and 1981 respectively both from the University of Nairobi among other academic qualifications, and in his quest to be the country’s next Chief Justice and president of the Supreme Court, Prof. Wekesa submitted volumes of his academic publications
Born in Kakamega County, Prof. Wekesa has taught in various universities specializing in Sports Medicine and in Law, acquiring PhDs in both fields hence his title Prof. Dr. Dr. Moni Wekesa. In 2017, he contested the Navakholo parliamentary seat but lost.
Although he is little known within the corridors of justice with no major landmark case under his belt, the university don is well known in the sporting circles, locally and internationally; for instance in 1999-2001 he served as Regional Manager in charge of Africa for Special Olympics International, and in 2005 he was the Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Football Federation among others.
Even though Prof. Mbote has not done private legal practice, she assured Kenyans that she is up to the task having done some work for the Judiciary such as birthing the performance improvement documents, which she said has helped her have an in-depth understanding of the institution.
During the interview of Prof. Mbote on April 13, 2021 among other issues she was supposed to clarify, Deputy Chief Justice and acting CJ Philomena Mwilu questioned Prof. Mbote for taking ownership of a concept paper by Prof Migai Akech without attribution during her time as dean at the University of Nairobi.
In response, Prof Mbote said that “I have given my response. It is the Judiciary that called me to work on a concept to discuss that very difficult Raila case. I called a number of people and Prof Migai put together the concept. In universities when you develop a concept it is submitted as a concept of UoN. Prof Magoha was not there so I was noted as the person responsible for the activities. I did involve Prof Migai and there was going to be a book co-edited by myself and him but because his name was not on the concept he didn’t want to work on it and we gave back the money for the book.”
She was also asked to respond to accusations of engaging in underhand activities that disadvantaged a candidate in relation to the Law Society of Kenya male member of the Judicial Service Commission, which she flatly denied having any interest in.
And just like Prof. Mbote who pioneered Strathmore University’s Law School, Prof. Wekesa has been the founding Dean of Mount Kenya University School of Law from 2010-2016 before he moved to Daystar University where he spearheaded the establishment and accreditation of the law school from 2016 till date where he its dean.
“As Founding Dean of the School of Law – Mount Kenya University, I grew the staff compliment from nil (in June 2010) to over 25 (by Sept 2012) with student numbers increasing from about 25 to about 1,500 over the same period. I have laid out a plan for staff growth at Daystar University School of Law,” reads Prof. Wekesa’s CV in part.
