Chief Justice David Maraga has once again come to the defence of the Judiciary, in the wake of accusations that the Judiciary is dragging back the war on graft. Speaking at the Bomas of Kenya during the National Anti-Corruption Conference which brought together various leaders including President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and former premier Raila Odinga, CJ Maraga said the war against corruption won’t be won through blame games. He said some people have gone to the extent of looking for bloggers to mount attacks, “The war against corruption is not going to be won by blame games, by people who are involved here and some are here..hiring bloggers to demonize anybody or demonize the judiciary,” he said.
He also faulted the sentiment made at the conference that the Judiciary shouldn’t entertain useless petitions, saying that the Judiciary doesn’t go out to look for cases, but people who are aggrieved come to the Judiciary, “They file cases, if they file cases we must hear them and dismiss them if they have no basis, we must hear them and uphold them if they have a basis…should I now write and say these petitions that have been filed here we find them useless, throw them away, even without hearing them? We can’t do that we are a country ruled by the rule of law,” he said.
A stern CJ Maraga also faulted Friday arrest by police, saying it puts pressure on the Judiciary, “Your Excellency we are not going to win the war against corruption by Friday arrests,” he said, and urged police officers to avoid them. He said the war on corruption will be won by the application of the law, outlining that the Constitution guarantees an accused person the right to be heard, “He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We must have a fair hearing to the accused person.” He also addressed the complaints that cases are taking very long in courts, saying that they’ve instructed communication directors in the Judiciary to give the public updates why the cases have been adjourned, “Some of them are adjourned because the accused persons have not been given statements to defend themselves. We are a democratic society, a rule of law, anything short of a fair hearing we are not going to win this war,” he insisted.
CJ Maraga also revealed that he has received complaints from different quarters regarding the transparency of officials in the Judiciary, including allegations of bribery. However, he said the information he gets is not actionable. He has asked for support so that these cases can be investigated and action taken through the Judiciary Ombudsman, saying that anyone in the Judiciary who’ll be involved in corruption will be dealt with.