Former Chief Justice David Maraga Arrested at Nairobi National Park Protest - parentsafrica.com ↗
4 Sept 2026Former Chief Justice David Maraga Arrested at Nairobi National Park Protest parentsafrica.com
David Maraga ✓ Verified
candidate · President, Kenya · United Green Movement
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David Kenani Maraga is the judge who said no: the 14th Chief Justice of Kenya, who led Africa's first annulment of a sitting president's re-election and now asks voters to send that same rectitude to State House. Admitted to the bar in October 1978, he built a Nakuru practice over a quarter of a century, rose through the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and captained the Supreme Court bench that voided the August 2017 presidential result. A devout Seventh-day Adventist who never sat on Saturdays, he defended judicial independence through budget cuts and open executive defiance until his retirement on his 70th birthday in January 2021. He declared for the presidency on a United Green Movement ticket in October 2025, and in August 2026 was named a coordinator of the People's Forum for Electoral Preparedness. His campaign rests on one promise: the constitution, enforced without fear or favour.
Experience
Professional
Presidential Candidate
United Green Movement 2025, present
Declared for the 2027 presidency in October 2025 on a United Green Movement ticket, standing outside the United Opposition coalition with his own party vehicle. His platform is built on anti-corruption enforcement, constitutionalism and the independence of state institutions.
Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court
Judiciary of Kenya 2016-2021
Kenya's Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court from 2016 to 2021. He led the bench that nullified the 2017 presidential election, a first in Africa, and defended judicial independence against sustained executive pressure.
Chair, Judiciary Committee on Elections
Judiciary of Kenya 2012-2016
Appointed vice chair of the Judiciary Working Committee on Election Preparations in May 2012 and chair of its successor, the Judiciary Committee on Elections, in August 2015. The assignment made him the courts' electoral-law specialist and put him in charge of readying judges and magistrates for election petitions.
Judge, Court of Appeal
Judiciary of Kenya 2011-2015
Elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2012, presiding over its Kisumu bench and chairing the judiciary's committee on election preparations, the assignment that made him the courts' electoral-law specialist.
Judge of the High Court
Judiciary of Kenya 2002-2011
Appointed a High Court judge in 2003, serving in Mombasa and Nakuru. A devout Seventh-day Adventist who declined to sit on Saturdays, he built a reputation for strict case management and personal incorruptibility.
Chairperson
Rift Valley Law Society 1986-1989
Led the Rift Valley branch of the profession from 1987 to 1989, his first elected office of any kind, held while running his Nakuru practice.
Advocate
Maraga & Company Advocates, Nakuru 1977-2002
Ran Maraga & Company Advocates in Nakuru for a quarter-century, specializing in civil and commercial litigation and rising through the Law Society ranks before his elevation to the High Court bench in 2003.
Education
Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
University of Nairobi
Law degree from the University of Nairobi followed by the advocates course at the Kenya School of Law; he was admitted to the bar in 1978, the start of a legal career that ran from provincial practice to the country's top judicial office.
Master of Laws (LL.M)
University of Nairobi 2010-2011
A master's in law taken in 2011, while sitting as a High Court judge and shortly before his elevation to the Court of Appeal.
Postgraduate Diploma in Law
Kenya School of Law 1976-1978
The advocates training course, completed in 1978. He was admitted to the roll of advocates in October of that year and went straight into practice in Nakuru rather than into government service.
East African Advanced Certificate of Education
Kisii High School 1971-1973
A-levels at Kisii High School, the qualification that took him to the University of Nairobi law faculty in the mid-1970s.
East African School Certificate
Maranda High School 1967-1971
O-level schooling at Maranda in Siaya, one of the national schools that drew bright provincial students in the years after independence.
Certificate of Primary Education
Sironga DEB Primary School 1960-1967
Primary schooling in Bonyamatuta, the Nyamira County village where he was born, the first rung of a route that ran from a rural classroom to the head of the Judiciary.
Latest News
More news about David →Latest 5 pieces mentioning David Maraga, from verified media, tagged automatically.
Nearly three Kenyans died every day from police brutality during the first four years of President William Rutos administration, according to retired Chief Just
David Maraga Taskforce Recommended Return to Old-Style Police Uniform, Report Shows - Tuko News ↗
1 Sept 2026David Maraga Taskforce Recommended Return to Old-Style Police Uniform, Report Shows Tuko News
Former Chief Justice David Maraga has released the full report of the National Taskforce on Police Reforms, nearly three years after it was submitted to Preside
David Maraga: Police Reform Report Kenya Released, Calls for Independence Wansom AI
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Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court, Judiciary of Kenya (2016 to 2021)
- 1. Led the first annulment of a presidential election in Africa On 1 September 2017 the Supreme Court, by a four to two majority he led, voided the 8 August presidential result for illegalities and irregularities and ordered a fresh poll. No African court had ever set aside a sitting president's re-election.
- 2. Advised the President to dissolve Parliament over the gender rule On 21 September 2020 he advised the President to dissolve Parliament for failing to enact the two-thirds gender rule within the deadline the 2010 Constitution set. The advisory was frozen by the High Court, but it forced the country's longest-ignored constitutional obligation into the open.
- 3. Held the line on 41 blocked judicial appointments Publicly and repeatedly confronted the executive over its refusal to appoint 41 judges nominated by the Judicial Service Commission, and over budget cuts to the Judiciary, treating both as attacks on the separation of powers rather than as administrative disputes.
- 4. Chaired the tribunal that removed a High Court judge Named in 2013 to chair the tribunal investigating Justice Joseph Mutava's conduct over the Goldenberg scandal. The tribunal recommended his removal in September 2016, and the Supreme Court affirmed it in March 2019.
Chair, Judiciary Committee on Elections, Judiciary of Kenya (2012 to 2016)
- 1. Built the courts’ election-dispute machinery before 2017 Chaired the Judiciary Committee on Elections from August 2015, training judges and magistrates and setting the case-management rules under which the 2017 petitions were heard within their constitutional timelines.