THE HON. MR JUSTICE WILLIAM OUKO
Judge of the Court of Appeal
The Hon. Mr. Justice William Ouko was born on 21st November, 1962 in Bondo. He attended Usenge Primary School before proceeding to Kilindini Secondary School in Mombasa for his “O” levels. Thereafter he joined Kagumo High School for “A” levels. He was admitted to the University of Nairobi where he graduated with an LL.B Degree in 1986. Thereafter he joined the Kenya School of Law for a Diploma in law.
He was employed in 1987 by the Judicial Service Commission as District Magistrate ll (Professional), a post he held for two years upto 1987 when he was promoted to the grade of Resident Magistrate. Two months later he was promoted to the post of Deputy Registrar, effectively deputizing the Registrar of the High Court. From 1989 to 2004 when he was elevated to the High Court, Mr. Justice Ouko has been engaged on a full-time basis in the administration of the courts in Kenya. He has toured literally all the courts in the country and was instrumental to numerous developments in the Judiciary.
He rose from the post of Deputy Registrar to Senior Deputy Registrar, Principal Deputy Registrar and ultimately became the first Chief Court Administrator in 1997. On 4th March, 2002 he was appointed the Registrar of the High Court and served for only two years before being appointed to the High Court as a puisne Judge.
Mr. Justice Ouko is widely trained in court administration having attended various courses in this area both locally and overseas. He was trained locally at the Kenya Institute of Administration, the K.P.&T.C. Mbagathi, among others. Overseas, he was trained at the Royal Institute of Public Administration, U.K., Washington International Management Institute (WIMI), U.S.A. among others.
He is credited for designing the annual appraisal forms for the Judiciary staff; for the drafting of the Judiciary Code of Conduct in 1994.
He has served as a member of the East African Judicial Education Committee, the Judiciary Library Committee, Reform and Development Committee of the Judiciary, among others.
He served as a Joint Secretary to the Presidential Committee to Inquire into Terms and Conditions of Service of the Judiciary (the Kotut Committee), the Committee on the Administration of Justice (The Kwach Committee), the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry etc.
Recently he chaired with successfully results the Judiciary Service Staff Regulations Committee and is presently the chairman of the Task Force on the Judiciary Staff Superannuation Scheme. Last week he was appointed to chair the Task Force for the Judicial Reforms.
On his appointment to the High Court, Mr. Justice Ouko was posted to Malindi, later transferred to Meru and last month to this court (Nakuru). He is married with three daughters.
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