A quick look at the decisions that Kenyan courts have been making in the recent past shows a string of irrational rulings and total disregard for national security.
Competent lawyers will tell you that courts do not operate in a vacuum, meaning that the decisions of the judges must take into consideration public interest and the security of the country. But the opposite is what we have witnessed in recent days.
Take, for example, the case of deported NASA strategist Miguna Miguna. Before he was arrested, the self-declared general of outlawed criminal group NRM had openly taken part in treasonous offences and went ahead to call on Kenyans to take up arms against President Uhuru Kenyatta.
When nothing was done to him, he urged the violent youth in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to take down portraits of the president, administered an illegal oath and dared Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i to arrest him. Isn't all that subversion, which the government has been speaking against for far too long? The law was followed fully in his deportation.
In court, Judge Luka Kimaru invented a prayer and made a ruling on it: demanding that the Miguna's illegally acquired passport be surrendered to him. There was nothing in court about deportation. The only issues at hand were the lawyer being produced in court and the alleged contempt of court by the Inspector General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
There is another disturbing trend of courts issuing anticipatory bails, which essentially stop law enforcement officials from arresting any suspect. Why are judges issuing such orders even before finding out the case that applicants are accused of committing?
If today a terrorist felt like he was being cornered by police, he can file an urgent application in court, seeking anticipatory bail. That means he will be free to cause more harm to innocent Kenyans. Aren't the judges also Kenyans who could die in case of a terror attack?
Many Kenyans are now wondering why courts are issuing injunctions or orders for every move that the government makes. Why are the decisions of the courts lacking public interest? Is there a hidden agenda?