Hon. Justice Warsame Abdulahi Mohammed: The Judge who might face Kenya's reckoning

Justice Mohamed Khadhar Ibrahim sat on Kenya\'s Supreme Court from its very first day. He helped build the bench that would later nullify a presidential election. He died in Nairobi in December 2025 after a long illness. His death left a seat empty at the highest court in the land. Kenya has spent four months deciding who fills it. On the evening of April 29, 2026, the Judicial Service Commission made its choice. Court of Appeal Judge Mohamed Abdulahi Warsame will go to President William Ruto for formal appointment to the Supreme Court of Kenya. Chief Justice Martha Koome announced the decision after two days of live, nationally televised vetting at Milimani Law Courts. Five candidates Five before the commission and only one name emerged.

Justice Warsame brings a career that spans more than three decades of judicial work. He joined the High Court bench in 2003 and moved to the Court of Appeal in 2012. His peers elected him their representative on the JSC under Article 171(2)(c) of the Constitution. He has handled commercial law, criminal law and judicial review. On paper the record is solid but the vetting sessions revealed something the resume does not capture. During his interview Justice Warsame levelled sharp criticism at Chief Justice Koome\'s reforms to judicial review. He used the phrase Koome-lization to describe what he sees as a distortion of the Fair Administrative Action Act. That criticism went to the heart of how the court should supervise state power. It was not a neutral comment but a statement of judicial philosophy. Voters deserve to hear that philosophy debated openly. The JSC deserved to press harder on it. There is a second question that desecond a direct answer. Justice Warsame served as a JSC commissioner while also being a candidate for a seat that the JSC was filling. That is not a technicality but a structural conflict. He sat in the same institution that sets the criteria, designs the process and ultimately picks the winner. The Constitution of Kenya demands institutional integrity at every level. The JSC must explain how this conflict was managed and why it did not disqualify his candidacy.

He was not alone in raising uncomfortable questions. Justice Katwa Kigen went before the commission and was confronted about his history as President Ruto\'s personal lawyer. He swore impartiality. His assurance was confident but also untested. The Supreme Court may yet sit in judgment of a Ruto election petition in 2027. The public has a right to more than a promise. Next year is an election year and the reason this appointment carries exceptional weight. The Supreme Court holds the sole constitutional power to validate or nullify a presidential election result.