Maraga, who has been at loggerheads with Uhuru and the executive over disregard of court orders and budget cuts to the Judiciary, recounted the historic Supreme Court ruling of September 1, 2017 in which he nullified Uhuru’s election citing irregularities and illegalities.
Not long after the ruling, Uhuru stated at a public function that they would ‘revisit’ the Judiciary, words that were widely perceived as a threat to Maraga and the courts.
Maraga reiterated that the Supreme Court would deliver the same nullification ruling if the same case were to be presented years later.
“Going by the experience we had in 2007/2008 (Post-Election Violence), and here we had a disputed Presidential election, The majority of the Supreme Court were very clear in their minds. We don’t want to return our country to the 2007/2008 experience
“I stand by that decision. If you bring it even 10 years after now I will still, on the evidence brought before us, come to the same conclusion,” he stated.
Now, with the Judiciary underfunded and Uhuru refusing to appoint 41 judges, Maraga speculated that perhaps the threat to revisit the Judiciary was being acted on.
On the 41 judges who Uhuru has refused to appoint citing integrity questions, Maraga called for the Judges to be sworn in and petitions brought against them thereafter.
He noted that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) had offered to prioritize dealing with petitions against the newly-appointed judges.
“I can’t say yes or no (on being revisited), but when you see a trend, it speaks on its own. A few things we have experienced leave me wondering whether this threat is being followed,” he stated.
Asserting that he had no issues with President Uhuru Kenyatta in a personal capacity, he maintained that he was dissatisfied by the execution of the powers of the office he holds.
Maraga disclosed that his attempts to schedule a meeting with Uhuru to resolve the issues had been futile as he was not given an appointment.
He stated that the country’s 2010 Constitution was one of the best in the world, but had not been implemented. He accused the political elite of cherry-picking which parts of the Constitution to implement. A key failure, he stated, was the collapse of the two thirds gender rule.
He also warned that continued disregard of court orders by government officials could lead to anarchy.
“As a government, what moral authority do you have to ask people to obey the law which yourself you’re not obeying? That’s a serious issue,” he observed.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM
