Former Chief Justice David Maraga has weighed in on the current stalemate in the country regarding the appointment of six judges out of the 40 that were to be appointment and sworn in.
Speaking on Wednesday 9th June 2021 at his Karen residence, Maraga has laid it bare that President Uhuru Kenyatta was out of order to appoint 34 judges instead of all the 40 presented by the Judicial Service Commission
In what he termed as unconstitutional, Maraga called on the President to showcase allegiance to his oath of office by acting in accordance with the law and appoint the six judges.
Asked on what he would remember President Uhuru Kenyatta for, Maraga insisted that he would only remember the President for disregarding court orders and the law. This precedence set by the President he says was a leeway to fraudsters and criminals to blatantly disrespect court orders and ridicule judgment by courts in the country.
Maraga’s sentiments come just a day after former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in a statement hit out at the President for failing to abide by the law calling on the President to “simply appoint the six judges”
On whether he would be at ease to advise the current Chief Justice Lady Justice Martha Koome, Maraga says it is Koome’s time and so she should be left to run her show but that he only came out to speak because his conscious could not let him look on as disregard to the law looms in the country.
The former Chief Justice observed that failure to fix the country’s electoral system would spring up conflict once again in next year’s polls, calling on leaders to trade with caution because this would take the country back to the chaotic scenes of after general elections