Hon. Justice (Dr.) Smokin Wanjala, FCIArb, CBS.
Justice of the Supreme Court of Kenya
Date of Appointment to the Supreme Court of Kenya: 16th June, 2011
Assigned Portfolios:
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- Director, Judiciary Training Academy.
- Establishing linkages with Universities and Institutions of higher learning (The academic community of legal scholars)
- Establish linkages with local and international academic networks and other learning/knowledge management processes and initiatives.
- Oversee the training and development of Judges, individually and collectively, and members of staff.
- Quality management and assurance for the highest standards of the Court’s decisions and ensuring consistency and harmony in the decisions.
- Coordinating Supreme Court Research
- Coordinating Law Clerks
- Organizing and coordinating the Speaker and Judges’ Lecture Series Circuit of the Supreme Court.
- Organizing forums for scholarly review of the Court’s decisions.
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Justice Wanjala is a Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya having been appointed in 2011. Between 2011 and 2016, he was a member of the Judicial Service Commission (representing the Supreme Court) and Chairman of the Commission’s Human Resources and Administration Committee. The Hon. Judge is the Judiciary Representative to the Council of Legal Education (CLE) having been appointed as such in 2020. He is the current Director, Kenya Judiciary Academy (KJA). Justice Wanjala has also served as a member of other critical Committees of the Judiciary, including but not limited to, the Judiciary Standing Committee on Elections (JCE) and the Judiciary Committee on Performance Management and Measurement Understanding (PMMU).
Justice Wanjala is a holder of a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B Hons.) from the University of Nairobi, a Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law, a Master of Laws (LL.M) from Columbia University, New York, and a Doctorate in Law (PhD) from the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Before his appointment to the Supreme Court of Kenya, Justice Wanjala served as a Law Lecturer and later, Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi for nineteen (19) years (1986-2004). While still lecturing at the University of Nairobi, he served as the Joint Secretary to the Commission on Illegally and Irregularly Acquired Public Land (the Ndung’u Commission) in 2003. He is credited with having overseen the compilation and writing of what has become popularly known as the Ndung’u Report. Justice Wanjala was the first Chairman of the Public Complaints Committee on the Environment (PCC) which is one of the Compliance Committees of the National Environment and Management Authority-NEMA (2002-2004).
He was appointed Assistant Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) in October 2004, where he served in that capacity until 2009.
He has many publications to his credit including books and articles in the fields of Law, Human Rights and Governance. He has published locally and internationally. Apart from his accomplishments in academia as a Law Teacher and Author, Justice Wanjala has participated in major research projects leading to the compilation and production of Seminal Reports.
Justice Wanjala is one of the four founder members of the Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION) where they pioneered Civic Education in the Country. He is a member of the International Commission of Jurists, ICJ-Kenya Chapter and the Kenya National Academy of Sciences. He has recently delivered lectures at the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) during the Institution’s Summer Lecture Series. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Columbia Global Centres – Nairobi, Kenya; which is one of the nine World-Wide Regional hubs established by Columbia University to enhance research and collaboration for the benefit of humanity.
In 2008, Justice Wanjala became a subject of Biographical Record in Marquis “Who is Who” in the World, 25th Edition. Inclusion in this Biography is limited to individuals who have contributed significantly to the betterment of society.
In 2012, Justice Wanjala received the Presidential Award of the Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) [First Class], the 4th Highest Civilian Award in Kenya, in recognition of his distinguished service rendered to the Nation