Martha Koome

Martha Koome (born in 1960) is a Kenyan advocate and Human Rights Defender, serving as the Chief Justice of Kenya since 21 May 2021. She is the first woman to serve as Chief Justice in Kenya.

Chief Justice of The Republic of Kenya (2022)

Quotes

• I am the first woman in Kenya to take this office but because every time a member of the marginalised group breaks a barrier, they hold a space for the dreams and hopes of others.
  • "CJ Martha Koome Quotes US VP Kamala Harris: ‘I Am The First, But Not The Last’", Citizen Digital (May 22, 2021)

• It is a heavy one but it becomes lighter because it is a shared responsibility. It is a shared responsibility because justice works through a chain which runs through all the branches of government and it is as strongest as its weakest link. At the end of the chain, it is us the Judiciary, but we cannot work when the chain is broken.
  • [1]] Citizen Digital (May 22, 2021).

• I am a villager in the truest sense. My parents were peasant farmers and we were 18 children from two mothers. So, for all of us, especially girls - it was a struggle to overcome the odds.
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56918265

• He who alleges fraud must show proof. Allegations of ballot stuffing were only unproven hypotheses. Fraud is a serious offence and must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
  • [2]August 30, 2020

• Food helps people talk nicely… so we will have a couple of retreats, eating [there] to understand what is the problem.
  • [3] When asked how she would deal with her fellow Supreme Court judges if there was friction, lunch was her solution.

• We are being respected now not only in the region but even in the whole world. They are looking upon Kenya for leadership and also for independent institutions, especially the institution of Judiciary” “This is not because of my power, but this is because of the faithful God that I serve.
  • [4] Chief Justice Martha Koome speaking on Wednesday, September 7,2022, at a funeral in Meru.