Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has advised Kenyan judges to protest over the Executive’s trend of ignoring court orders.
Mutunga has urged the judges to go on strike and demand that the executive respects the judiciary.
According to the former CJ, the government will not respect the judiciary if they don’t act now.
He criticized the Executive for ignoring court orders and disregarding the rule of law.
Mutunga further urged Kenyans to demand the government to comply with all the court orders such as the payment of awards, costs and their accruing interests in the case of exiled lawyer Dr Miguna Miguna.
Mutunga said that he will personally bring back Miguna to the country as a way of executing court orders that had been ignored by the government.
“After careful reflection and following broad consultations with lawyers, human rights and justice defenders, progressive politicians, and Mr Miguna himself, I have decided to travel to Toronto, Canada, to accompany Mr Miguna on his flight back to his motherland on 16 November 2021,” Mutunga said in a statement.
Under the leadership of president Uhuru Kenyatta, the Judiciary and the Executive have been at loggerheads especially after the Supreme Court nullified the 2017 presidential elections.
The most recent tussle has been about the appointment of 41 judges that had been nominated by the Judicial Service Commission.
President Kenyatta only appointed 34 judges leaving out 6 of them as one of those nominated passed on after being involved in a road accident, after over a year since their nomination.
The High Court however gave president Kenyatta 14 days to appoint the six judges, an order that the president is yet to execute.
The six judges include Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga, Weldon Korir and Joel Ngugi, who were to serve in the Appellate court as well as Evans Makori and High Court registrar Judith Omange.
“Upon the lapse of the 14 days, without Uhuru having made the appointment it shall be presumed that his power to make them has expired and his office becomes functus so far as the appointments are concerned and the six nominees shall be deemed duly appointed effective from the date of default as Judges of superior courts for which they were recommended,” the court ruled last week Thursday.
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