Opposition leader Raila Odinga and Chief Justice David Maraga. [Photo/Capital FM]The opposition shouldn’t swallow the bait being thrown at them by Uhuruto and start defending the courts the way Jubilee has been defending IEBC. The scheme to make the judiciary look pro-NASA has huge implications for any controversial court ruling in the near future.
Remember, in the case of a botched election on 8/8, the case is likely to end up in court and the supreme court will then decide who is going to be our next president.
I think the judiciary is competent enough to defend itself against any allegations and NASA should completely desist from defending it. It is too obvious that the sudden and uncalled for outbursts against the Judiciary, from the president and his deputy, are aimed at getting an equally agitated response from the opposition.
This will then make NASA and the courts look like an item, just like Jubilee and IEBC seem to be lying in the same bed.
Here is the catch. In a two-pronged scheme, the president and his deputy are simply setting the stage for a supreme court presidential petitionruling after 8/8 elections. Painting the judiciary as pro-opposition now will work to Jubilee’s advantage at the time of the ruling, and here is how.
If the ruling is manipulated in Jubilee’s favor, as it happened in 2013, they will have a good reason to distance themselves from the outcome since they can argue that the courts have in any case been pro-opposition in the past.
They will then tell the opposition to accept the ruling and move on! If the opposition calls for riots, you all know who has been put in charge of internal security, not forgetting that the police have been heavily equipped in the recent past.
In the event that the Supreme Court firmly puts its foot down and delivers a ruling unfavorable to Jubilee, they will also have the grounds of rejecting the ruling since they can argue that the judiciary has always been working with the opposition.
You have heard them repeatedly talk of a Nusu-mkate government and that might as well be their plan B. Talking about it quite often is one way of preparing the public for such an eventuality.
It is for this reason that the opposition should give Uhuruto’s outbursts against the courts a wide berth and avoid validating their unfounded claims with an answer.
The outbursts will then die a natural death. There are so many other important things to talk about such as how the NASA gov’t plans to improve the country’s ailing economy once it takes over power next month and what retirement package is befitting enough for the outgoing president and his deputy.
The statement is by Kenya O Gilbert, it first appeared on Kenya-today.com.