President Uhuru Kenyatta with former US President Barrack Obama during his visit to Kenya in 2015. [Photo/abcnews.go.com]
A US lawyers' association has warned President Uhuru Kenyatta against attacking the Supreme Court following its ruling that overturned his win in the August 8 general election.
Jubilee Party politicians led by the President and his deputy William Ruto have been criticising the court, with Uhuru terming the decision to nullify presidential results 'a judicial coup'."A coup in Kenya has just been done by the four people in the Supreme Court," Uhuru said recently.On September 1, hours after the court annulled the poll, the Head of State referred to the judges as crooks (wakora) for allegedly subverting the will of the people.But the New York City Bar Association, in a letter addressed to President Uhuru, warned that the attacks on the country's highest court were against the spirit of the Constitution."The onslaught on the Judiciary risk waning the gains on the independence of the institution outlined in the Constitution and other statutory laws that Kenya subscribes to," wrote the association president John Kiernan.He added: "The intimidation and attacks threaten the culture of constitutionalism."Supreme Court president and the Chief Justice David Maraga has also criticised what he termed as continued intimidation of the Judiciary by politicians after the nullification of Uhuru's victory."If leaders are tired of having a strong and independent Judiciary, they should call a referendum and abolish it altogether," said a furious Justice Maraga recently.