Court of Appeal Judge Katwa Kigen has confirmed that his relationship with President William Ruto would not compromise his impartiality as a Supreme Court Judge if there is a presidential election petition in 2027.

Speaking on Tuesday, April 28, Kigen told the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviewing him for the position of Supreme Court Judge that Ruto was just his client and that he would not be biased in favour of the Head of State.

Justice Fatuma Sichale, who sat in the interviewing panel, explained that the concern was raised by Kenyans who were privy to his stint as Ruto’s lawyer during his case at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Justice Shichale stated that the concerns had been received through a written letter sent to the commission by a concerned Kenyan and was sent to Kigen.

“Kenyans are expressing their misgivings about your candidature. First, they are concerned that you have been President Ruto’s lawyer, who is likely to be a candidate in the 2027 elections.

“The fear that these Kenyans have is that if you are successful and you join the six judges at the Supreme Court, and then thereafter there is a petition challenging the presidential election, they fear that you are likely not to be impartial. What do you have to say to this?” she posed.

In his response, Kigen denied receiving the letter, but intimated that he suspected the concern over his client-advocate relationship with Ruto would be raised.

“It is true that I have represented him.  I intend to be as objective and neutral in the discharge of my functions as a judge.

“While I cannot say that the fear is ill-informed, because I can understand the concerns, I just want to give the assurance that I would be fair, and I would only deal with facts and the law,” he responded.

However, he complained that the letter hadn’t been shared with him in advance, so he didn’t have time to prepare a more structured answer to the question.

Kigen stated that the concerns were borderline discrimination since he was not the only judge who had risen from being an advocate, where they once represented clients in court.

“Looking at the totality of judges from the High Court to the Supreme Court, you could almost say that 50 percent of them were lawyers.

“To say that for me, that I have a disadvantage because I represented a particular individual, it would be a borderline case of discrimination because I would be treated differently just because of the kind of client I represented,” he added.

The Court of Appeal Judge invited the panel to assess him and look at him based on what he stands for: integrity, fairness, justice, and his fairness and objectivity in applying the law.

He added that if push came to shove over his sitting on the bench that determined the presidential election petition, then many options within the law could be considered if he became a judge of the Supreme Court.

“There are provisions, if anyone has issues with me sitting on that bench with justifiable cause, in which that matter can be handled, including recusal. I am aware that some presidential petitions have been done with less than the totality of the seven Supreme Court Justices,” Kigen stated.

He added that the role of the apex court was not domiciled in presidential election petitions, adding that there were other assignments assigned to it.

Kigen was among six candidates shortlisted to replace the late Supreme Court Judge Mohammed Ibrahim, who died in December 2025.

The Senior Counsel was appointed to the Court of Appeal in January 2026, and eyes to sit on the bench of the country’s highest court.