ANNE WAIGURU’S HUSBAND WARNS PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA

Lawyer Kamotho Waiganjo has warned President Uhuru Kenyatta against pushing the 5-judge bench that discredited the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

He argued that Uhuru may be tempted to initiate punitive measures against the Judiciary after the judges specifically profiled him. 

“The temptation by the Executive will be to apply the methods it has previously used to try to tame the Judiciary. This includes reducing the Judiciary’s budgetary allocation and refusal to obey court orders considered unreasonable. 

“Another way was ensuring that the Executive had a substantial say in the judges who were appointed into the Judiciary (Uhuru rejected to appoint 41 judges during emeritus Chief Justice David Maraga’s tenure),” Waiganjo wrote in the Standard column on Saturday, May 15. 

The husband to the Kirinyaga Governor added that the decisions by the Executive not only hurt the Judiciary by the society as a whole. 

“It is Kenyans who suffer as they wait longer for review of cases. When the government refuses to obey court orders, it signals to the people that court orders are optional,” he cautioned. 

The attorney added that the Executive and Judiciary must strike an equilibrium and understand that in as much as the judges will render decisions considered unjust, the Executive must refrain from retaliating.

Waiganjo further stated that he concurred with the judgement issues even though the judges misdirected themselves on a variety of issues including rewriting the constitutional provisions on the exercise of sovereign power. 

“The ruling was a well reasoned and monumental jurisprudential piece that shall be studied in many jurisdictions over the years,” Waiganjo wrote. 

The 5-judge bench of Justices Teresia Matheka, Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, and Chacha Mwita declared the BBI as null and void. They argued that it had contravened the Constitution as a popular initiative cannot be initiated by the President. 

They also referred to the President in his personal capacity as Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and ruled that he can be sued for disobeying the law. Lawyers stated that this ruling will have an implication on Uhuru’s tenure as it opened leeways for his impeachment. 

His future may also be jeopardised as he may face litigations once he exits the office, lest an Appellate Court overturns the ruling. Attorney General Paul Kihara Kariuki and the BBI Secretariat stated that they will file an appeal. 

Kenyans.co.ke

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