Emerging details indicate that judges and members of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) are among the entities in support of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) referendum bid.
Consequently, they secretly slipped in a memorandum of issues they want the BBI taskforce to propose, including changes that will increase time for presidential petition hearings.
They also want the judiciary's allocation capped at 3.5 of the national budget, and also want the government to reduce its over-reliance in courts in the fight against corruption.
Instead, according to the memorandum, they want political means employed in the graft purge, probably to reduce the blame currently being heaped on the courts.
“The Executive and Legislature should, just like the Judiciary has done, use fair but firm and decisive administrative action to deal with corruption within its ranks. The over-reliance on criminal justice system is slow, and sometimes not as effective as it should be, given the heavy evidentiary burden,” it reads.
They have rooted for additional two weeks during hearing of presidential disputes, and want their officials who land in problems dealt with by the JSC and not tribunals.
The judges have proposed that persons found to have disobeyed court orders lose their slots through an amendment of the Leadership and Integrity Act and the Public Officers Ethics Act.
“The JSC recommends the enactment of a new Contempt of Court Act that recognises the importance of obedience to court orders and imposes appropriate penalties,” it further reads.
The BBI is a making of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta after their 2018 truce, which they seek to use to make changes in the constitution.