L – R: CJ Nemat of Sudan, Martha of Kenya and Meaza of Ethiopia
NAIROBI, May 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The latest woman to make history as a head of the judiciary in an African nation is Martha Karambu Koome of Kenya.
Her appointment was affirmed by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday after the Judicial Service of Kenya and the National Assembly vetted and accepted her nomination to the post.
Whiles it is a giant stride in the East African nation, Koome joins a growing list of African women who have made history by heading the judiciary in their respective countries.
SUDAN: Nemat Abdullah Khair was appointed to the CJ position in late 2019 by the ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council.
It was the first time the Arab Muslim nation had a female leading the judiciary.
She was nominated by the judges’ professional association, which was part of a protest movement that helped oust Bashir in April that year.
ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed in November 2018 appointed the country’s first female chief justice, Meaza Ashenafi.
Ashenafi, who founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, EWLA, currently hold the position of President of the federal Supreme Court.
SEYCHELLES: Mathilda Twomey is the 7th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Seychelles. In 2011, she became the first female judge in the history of the Indian Ocean island-nation, and in 2015 made history as the country’s first female chief justice.
Twomey was in 2018 exonerated by an impeachment inquiry that was investigating allegations of abuse against her.
ZAMBIA: Irene Mambilima has been Zambia’s chief justice since 2015. She had served as deputy chief justice since 2008.
Mambilima also oversaw elections in 2006,2011 and 2015 as the country’s electoral commission chairperson.
Zambia’s first female chief justice has considerable international experience having served as a sessional judge of the Supreme Court of Gambia, and taken on election observer missions in Liberia, Kenya, Mozambique and Seychelles. — NNN-AGENCIES
