He was appointed by President William Ruto on Friday, August 6, 2023.
By Tuesday, October 10, 2023 Prof Collins Odote the new Chairman at the Council of Legal Education (CLE) was naming Jennifer Gitiri Wangui as the acting CEO.
Events at CLE moved fast and swift. On October 2, 2023 CLE board chairman and former Attorney General resigned his position after sections of the CLE staff used social media to accuse him of attempting to water down the CLE CEO position qualifications to favour then acting CEO Ms Mary Mugure.
Prof G. Muigai
Incidentally, it was the same Githu Muigai who, in December 2021, elbowed out the substantive CEO Dr Wambua Kituku.
The CLE requires its’ CEO to hold a PhD – which qualification both Mugure and Gitiri do not have.
Ms Mary Mugure
It is understood that Odotte had to request the AG for an external person to act as CEO pending recruitment of the new CEO as restless staff did not want to hear of elevation of an internal manager.
For the better part of September 2023, the social media has been awash with allegations of Ms Mugure having been involved in procurement related irregularities as well as well as globe-trotter.
Critics unhappy with choice of Gitiri Wangui, who spoke to COFEK on a strict call of confidentiality, claimed that she “used to freeze the operations of Payment Service Providers (PSPs) like Flutterwave then silently unfreeze them with no case to answer”
COFEK did not reach her for comment.
Prof C. Odote
All in all, it appears, Prof Odotte’s main assignment is to assure the credibility of the CLE by recruiting a new CEO and addressing the staff unrest.
Odote is also the director at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law.
Incidentally, Supreme Court Judge Dr Smokin Wanjala is a member of the Council. Prof Odotte is an Associate Dean at the School of Law, University of Nairobi where the former used to teach before he joined the helm of the Judiciary.
