Chief Justice David Maraga at a past event. [PHOTO/Kenya Today]
In the heat of the expected controversial swearing-in of NASA leader Raila Odinga, Chief Justice David Maraga has now added voice to the debate over the judges to oversee the event.
According to Maraga, his office does not have any authority to stop a judge from conducting the exercise.
He said that he lacks any legal mandate permitting him to direct judges or magistrates on such issues.
“The independence of the Judiciary is sacrosanct that the CJ is not given powers to direct the officers on what to do. Anybody saying that I have directed judges and magistrates on what to do, that has not come from me and it will never come from me,” he said.
He was speaking in Mombasa after the official opening of the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal affairs retreat.
Maraga spoke in response to a letter which purported that he had warned judges and magistrates against conducting the swearing-in on January 30.