President Uhuru Kenyatta’s promise to revisit the Judiciary could be a dream in execution after the latest move by Jubilee Party.
The ruling party on Wednesday jotted a protest letter to Chief Justice David Maraga.
In the letter written by Jubilee’s Secretary General Raphael Tuju, the ruling side said the Judiciary had in its operations exhibited open bias, double standards, impunity and poor leadership.
Tuju wrote: “My Lord, with all due respect, may I state the following, not to provoke you but to submit that no powers can be absolute… Irresponsible actions from the Judiciary, Executive or Parliament can burn this country.”
The latest unkind document points an accusing finger at CJ David Maraga, for almost sending the country south. Tuju said Maraga “almost succeeded in burning the country after August 8th Elections.”
Tuju blames the Judiciary for failing to condemn the election boycott by the Opposition NASA a week to the repeat presidential poll, a poll that was born out of an order by the Supreme Court.
When NASA declared there would be no election on October 26, 2017, since it was boycotting the exercise, Jubilee rushed to court to seek a clarification on the standing of the poll.
But Tuju feels “the Supreme Court saw nothing urgent about this petition to the court and gave a hearing date of 27th October 2017.”
"A post de facto date. This was like a naughty wink to NASA to continue with their contempt of the Supreme Court,” Tuju lamented.
On October 25, the Supreme Court failed to raise quorum to hear a case from two petitioners who had applied for the stopping of the repeat presidential poll that was just a day in time. This was even after Chief Justice David Maraga scheduled the hearing of the matter on a day that was already made a holiday reserve by the then acting Interior CS Fred Matiang’i.
This according to Jubilee Party was an open bias by the apex court.
“To any rational observer, it is the kind of fast-tracking that you can only get in this country when you know people,” Tuju pointed out.
The Opposition disregarded the October 26 election that gave Uhuru Kenyatta green light for the second term in office.
Thereafter, the Supreme Court upheld President Kenyatta’s win blowing off NASA’s hopes to have the October 26 exercise go in futility as it was on August 8, 2017.
In response, NASA vowed to swear in Raila Odinga as a parallel president. Although the plan was postponed severally, the Opposition on January 30 made true its swearing-in plan inaugurating Raila Odinga as the People’s President.
In its latest salvo, Jubilee Party through its secretary general blames the Supreme Court of failing to act over NASA’s disregard of Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld Uhuru Kenyatta’s win on October 26, to the extent of holding an inauguration ceremony.
CJ Maraga had stated days before the January 30 exercise refuted any liability over restricting judges on facilitating the Raila Odinga oath.
But Tuju said: “To our consternation, you were quoted by the local media saying that you had no powers to stop your judges from conducting the swearing in of the people’s president… I sincerely hoped that you were misquoted otherwise this would have been another wink to NASA to proceed with their nonsense.”
Among other issues, the Jubilee Party secretary-general believes were a proof of Judiciary’s flop in exercising equal jurisprudence include the Court’s inability to urgently hear a case filed by the Attorney General to stop the January 30th swearing-in of Odinga and the Judiciary’s silence on the legality of the People’s Assemblies.The Jubilee Party boss laments that the Judiciary had been cosy with activist Okiya Omtatah's prayers after the swearing in with utmost urgency.