Chief Justice Cecil Henry Ethel wood Miller died this morning at Nairobi Hospital. Mr Justice Miller, whose judicial service in Africa spanned over 30 years, died at the age of 73. His physician, Dr David Silverstein, could not immediately release details of the cause of death. Mr Justice Miller was appoint-ed the fifth Chief Justice of independent Kenya on November 13, 1986, taking over from Mr Justice C.B. Madan, who had retired at the age of 74 years.

The late Miller is most remembered for the judicious manner in which he handled the judicial commission which investigated a former Minister for Constitutional Affairs, Mr Charles Mugane Njonjo, in 1983. He had been appointed to head the commission by President. Moi following accusations that Mr Njonjo had been involved in activities which undermined the Presidency and the State. His memorable phrase, “Proceed gentlemen:proceed ..„” as he conducted the over 100-day inquiry remains a catch-phrase in intellectual circles today.

Mr Justice Miller was a lawyer, soldier and a pilot. He was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1916. He received his primary and secondary, education in Guyana, then a colony of Britain. As was the case in many British dominions, young Miller was enlisted in the British army during the Second World War. He trained as a pilot in the I Royal Air Force where be served in many countries between .1942 and 1945. He rose to the rank of Royal Air Force administrative. officer at Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Later he served as an adjutant at the Colonial Office in London, where he was in charge of British colonies- abroad. He was selected to serve as a Commonwealth welfare officer in the colonial office between 1946 and 1952 in which period he studied law to become a barrister at the London Middle Temple. He undertook a one-year legal practice in England before he re-turned to his motherland.