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CDF Heading back to Supreme Court could be a Complete Disaster for MPs

15 mins read
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Kenyan Legislators are known to be greedy and sometimes way too stupid for their own good. Grabbing the CDF money from an executive branch of government that is supporting the theft of CDF by MPs makers may look like a victory for a few days but it is nonsense.

I know the people who led the court battle to end the MP’s control of the CDF. That group was led by a very smart young Kenyan lawyer Waikwa Wanyoike who was working with the civil society legal teams. Those folks are no pushovers and they did this for Kenyans hoping that the CDF money will then be re-channeled to benefit ordinary people and not be pocket money for politicians.

Those civil society groups will be back in court within days to do two things.

First, they will ask for a court order to stop the executive government of Kenya from participating in what is clearly a contempt of court. When you disobey court orders in Kenya it is a criminal offense and you can be put in jail. Then they will take the battle all the way back to the Supreme Court.

This Njuguna Ndung’u chief of the Treasury handing the CDF money back to the MPs is in contempt of a Supreme Court ruling. That is a jailable offense. Ndung’u will say he got the order from AG Muturi to release the money. The AG has no power to override court rulings.

Instead of the MPs seeking the legal opinion of the AG on the matter, they should have applied to the Supreme Court to seek an opinion on what to do with the money as they wait to sort it out. They didn’t do it and now the civil society organizations are going to do exactly that and they will get a favourable answer when they ask that MPs should have no access to the CDF whatsoever.

The real deal here is, President Ruto decided that he will overrule the CDF Supreme Court order and asked his AG to issue that order. That is illegal Mr. President and you are going to learn it the hard way which will start in a few days.

Once an application is made to stop the Treasury from issuing Shs. 2 billion a week to MPs, it will be stopped. Then the hearing process begins and it will end up in the Supreme Court again in a few months. You have to be super stupid to think the Supreme Court will rule against itself on the ruling it made on August 8, 2022.

They will stick to that rule and even enhance it and declare that the CDF is altogether abolished and should not exist in the budget. The Supreme Court did not do that hoping that the executive and parliament will figure out how to transform CDF for the use of Kenyans.

The booboos in parliament and the executive have decided they are going to tell the Supreme Court to go to hell. Maybe that approach worked in the presidential election Supreme Court ruling but don’t push your luck. It will not happen here.

It tells you everything that not even one MP or leader of any political party in Kenya has spoken against grabbing CDF money in contempt of the Supreme Court ruling. On this matter, there is no Azimio or UDA because all the MPs want the money and their political parties be damned. The Stomach Party of Kenya (SPK) runs everything in our country. Well, let them get ready to meet other Kenyans in court over the CDF.

The civil society groups are going to win this battle in court and this time they should demand that the Supreme Court rules that there should be public participation in Kenya to determine how the CDF should be used. MPs are now talking about school kids not being able to do exams because they did not have the CDF money to pay school fees.

In the next hearing at the Supreme Court, civil society groups are going to ask for a complete record of how the CDF has been used over the years. How much of that money has been given to students to pay their school fees?

They will demand that those records are presented by every constituency in Kenya. They will demand complete financial records of how CDF has been used and presented by every constituency. If these MPs are looking for a fight, they are going to get one they never expected. That is not a threat. It is a promise.

A breakdown of how CDF money has been spent over the years could be a complete nightmare for the MPs. Maybe they don’t know but that is what they are asking for and they are going to get exactly that as this matter goes through the court system this time with all eyes wide open.

At the same time, President Ruto is about to commit another huge crime by trying to destroy the IEBC. It is a sin he will regret heavily.

Ruto to suspend IEBC Four as MPs okay tribunal trial

The fate of the embattled four electoral commissioners now lies with President William Ruto after MPs approved their removal from office.

The National Assembly voted Thursday night after extending sittings beyond the normal time-to adopt a committee report that recommended for their ejection.

The four are Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya, Francis Wanderi, and Irine Masit.

The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee confirmed that the four petitions that were seeking for the removal of the four who met the threshold for them to be kicked out of office.

Consequently, President Ruto is set to suspend the four from office any time and form a tribunal that will try them.

During the suspension and the period of the tribunal trial, they will be entitled to only half of their salaries. 

The House which comprised of mainly MPs allied to President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza camp unanimously backed the committee report after opposition lawmakers walked out earlier.

The commissioners are accused of gross violation of the constitution, incompetence, and gross misconduct during the August 9 elections.

MPs, in approving the establishment of a tribunal, said the petitioners had confirmed a prima facie case against the commissioners.

The commissioners differed with their chairman Wafula Chebukati on the outcome of the presidential elections and disowned the final results.

While supporting the motion, National Assembly majority leader Kimani Ichung’wa hailed the committee for conducting their business professionally.

“This is the first time that we are seeing due process being followed in the removal of the IEBC commissioners,” said Ichung’wa.

The Kikuyu MP said the commissioners were lucky that they had been taken through a legal process and not the street protests that ejected their predecessors from office.

“We must be proud that as the 13th Assembly we are presiding over a process that follows due process of the law..we have not had to get anybody to the streets despite the gross violation of the constitution,” he said.

Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei, said the process was above board as Parliament was acting in line with the Constitution on the removal of holders of constitutional offices.

She said that the committee’s mandate was to establish a prima facie case’ on the allegations raised against the commissioners.

“These commissioners were not only in violation of the Constitution but also part of a larger conspiracy that eventually involved the killing of the two Indian nationals,” she said.

‘They were part of a bigger conspiracy where they organized violence at the Bomas of Kenya.”

There are two things Ruto is doing in Kenya now which are gruesome. He will regret them both. Ruto is telling the Supreme Court that he will give CDF to MPs. That matter is going to the courts and Ruto will lose miserably.

Now Ruto wants to suspend the four commissioners at the IEBC who did not approve his coronation. That matter is going to the courts too and Ruto is going to lose badly there.

We could very well end up with a country where there is no IEBC at all and many Kenyans would say why do we even need the IEBC they are useless. That could be a good start.

The Kenyan DPP withdrawing every criminal case in the country also begs the question. Do we we really need the judiciary in Kenya. They are becoming irrelevant in criminal cases. What a sad country we have now.

The question is, does Kenya even need the DPP and the Judiciary at all? They are useless at this moment. Why not just have a rogue country run by William Ruto and a few bunch of thugs in government?

DPP withdraws murder charges against Tob Cohen’s widow

Any criminal in Kenya just needs to pay DPP Haji and there is no case. What a tragedy for the country to have criminals running the country with the help of the DPP.

The Director of Public Prosecutors has withdrawn murder charges against Tob Cohen’s widow Sarah Wairimu and her co-accused

Prosecutor Wangui Gichuhi told the court that they have filed a Nole prosequi in court seeking not to proceed with the matter.

Wangui had told Justice Daniel Ogembo that the matter will now be registered as an inquest.

However, Sarah’s lawyer Phillip Murgor has said he does not have the letter or the nole prosequi by the DPP.

The matter has been adjourned to 2 pm to allow the prosecution time to serve Murgor with the documents.

We now live in a country where the judiciary is fake and irrelevant and the prosecution is saying the law means nothing to them and they will withdraw all charges against rich criminals. That is a very nice country for criminals who run it. It will not last long. That is our history as a country.

Kenyans will fix this mess. They have done it before facing some really mighty forces. It will be done because Kenyans don’t take shit from their leaders whoever they are. Ask Moi even from his grave. Kenyans will not put up with this Ruto madness. He should know that. He tried it before and it never worked. It will not work now. Thank you.

Today I talked to some young Kenyans about the much-hyped Hustler Fund and I was telling them to apply for it and do business. They told me right now it is only the Shs. 500 that is getting through. Maybe you can buy one roast meat food with plus kachumbari. Forget the veggies. Drama is on in Kenya and nothing else.

Adongo Ogony is a Kenyan Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada

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