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Former
Chief Justice David Maraga has criticized President Uhuru Kenyatta for failing
to appoint six Judges out of 40 who were nominated by the Judicial Service
Commission (JSC).
During an
interview on KTN television on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, Maraga stated that he
will remember Uhuru as a president who disregarded the rule of law.
The former Chief
Justice stated that the Head of State’s sole responsibility was to appoint
judges and then discuss any issues of integrity with the JSC.
“Article 166 (1b)
of the Kenyan law states that the President shall appoint all the Judges in
accordance with the recommendations of the JSC subject to the approval by the
National Assembly (in the case of the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief
Justice. ) ” Maraga said.
The former Chief Justice claimed that despite the fact that the Head of State had objections over the six Judges, he still wouldn’t reveal the nature of the integrity concerns.
“These judges have been condemned
unheard, in the eyes of the public, these are the corrupt judges the President
was talking about,” he said. “The president cannot come and say he has
intelligence reports that these people have integrity issues and expect that we
take his word for it.” Maraga stated.
Whether
the president had received intelligence reports or not, according to Maraga,
the intelligence services do not have the authority to nominate judges.
“The
constitution has not given the intelligence bodies the mandate to appoint to
the judges, bring that intelligence report to the JSC, once the recommendations
have been made the JSC cannot recall those names,” the former CJ said.
The ex-Chief Justice
claimed that he had attempted to meet with the president in order to resolve
the differences between the two arms of government, but that his request had
been denied.
“I requested the
President to call the speakers and myself so that we can see how to deal with
administrative matters on the interdependence of the 3 arms of government, the
President refused. What was I expected to do?” he posed.
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