Justice Daniel Musinga is the new Kisumu Court of Appeal judge after a handing over ceremony on Friday.
Musinga took over from Chief Justice David Maraga following the latter's appointment as President of the Supreme Court.
Maraga was the presiding judge at the appellate court until he took over from former CJ Willy Mutunga who .
Judges, magistrates and lawyers led by Law Society of Kenya chairman Isaac Okero witnessed the ceremony.
Court of Appeal President Justice Paul Kiara, Judges Justice Wanjiru Karanja, Gatembu Kairu and High Court Judge David Majanja were also present.
Okero congratulated Maraga and pledged to support him for effective service delivery to Kenyans.
The CJ was accompanied by Judiciary registrar Anne Amadi, Judicial Service Commission deputy registrar and Commissioner Aggrey Muchelule.
Maraga called on lawyers, judges and magistrates to dedicate themselves to serving citizens diligently.
"After consultation with the Court of Appeal president, I am happy to announce that Justice Musinga will take over from me," Maraga said.
He urged his successor to reduce the at the station to the acceptable levels.
"There is a bit of work to be done here. The criminal appeals in Kisumu are 453 and 69 in Eldoret. There are also 98 civil appeals and 47 civil applications," Maraga said.
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The immediate former West Kenya Law Society chair Richard Onsongo urged Maraga to focus transforming the judiciary.
He praised the Supreme Court president’s administrative capability saying he is optimistic that he is up to the task.
"I am confident that Maraga is up to the task and he fits well into the new shoes," Onsongo said.
He called on the former presiding judge to serve Kenyans, lawyers, judges and magistrates well for a better service delivery.
"In legal practice, Maraga has always demonstrated ability to listen and come up with outstanding legal judgments," he added.