Kenya’s Top Judge Accuses President of Undermining Democracy
Kenya’s Chief Justice Accuses President of Undermining Courts
Kenya’s chief justice criticized President Uhuru Kenyatta for “routinely” disregarding court orders, saying his behavior bodes ill for the East African nation’s democracy.
Kenyatta has yet to approve 41 judges who’ve been recommended by the Judicial Service Commission, despite two courts orders requiring him to do so, Chief Justice David Maraga said in a statement Monday.
“Unfortunately, this disregard of court orders by the president is part of the pattern by the executive,” Maraga said. It “does not bode well for our constitutional democracy and is, potentially, a recipe for anarchy.”
The president can’t change the list of nominees or reject the recommendations, and has no choice but to swear in the judges, he said.
Kenyatta, through the attorney-general, has previously said he’s declined to swear in the judges because some of them have “integrity issues,” Maraga said. A shortage of judges has left Kenya’s Court of Appeal with a backlog of more than 7,000 cases, while anyone wanting to file a case at the Environment and Land Court must wait until 2022 at the earliest, he said.
“It is important to clearly and categorically state that this shortage of judges and the near-paralysis of court operations have been caused by the president’s refusal to swear in the 41 judges,” Maraga said.
‘Revealing Prejudices’
Other state infractions include the recent eviction of 1,000 families from their homes in the capital, Nairobi, despite a court order for police not to do so and a night-time curfew imposed to curb the coronavirus, Maraga said. The state also hasn’t yet paid compensation awarded by courts to people injured by government vehicles, he said.
Maraga’s salvo comes just months before he steps down after almost four years at the helm. During his term, he became the first judge to annul a presidential election in Africa when he ordered a rerun of Kenya’s disputed 2017 vote. The ruling enraged Kenyatta, who called it a “judicial coup” and vowed to “revisit this agenda.”
The chief justice’s comments are “colored to whip up public emotions,” Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki said in a statement on Twitter. If there had been any violation of court orders, the issue should have been addressed through contempt proceedings, according to the statement. Maraga’s “unsubstantiated and emotional” public pronouncements will set a tone for judges and magistrates over matters that will end up in court, he said.
“As a judge of the Supreme Court, the honorable chief justice is also revealing his disposition and prejudices over certain constitutional and legal issues that may end up before the Supreme Court for determination,” Kariuki said.
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