Chief Justice Lady Martha Koome has responded to Deputy President William Ruto and his allies in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) who have called on her to vacate her position in the Technical Working Committee for Election Preparedness, a multi-agency body comprising senior officials from the Judiciary and the Executive to oversee the 2022 elections preparedness.
Speaking on Thursday at the Devolution Conference in Makueni, CJ Koome explained her role in the preparedness committee does not affect her performance as the country’s head of Judiciary especially when it comes to next year’s elections.
”I met an intergovernmental committee on election preparedness [on Tuesday], and I was attacked for holding the meeting. [Let’s understand that] the Judiciary cannot deliver justice on its own. I was left wondering what would happen if I meet politicians?” she posed.
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In the fresh wave of attacks on members of the multi-agency team, UDA’s top guns are blaming the Chief Justice for involvement in 2022 election affairs instead of sticking to her constitutional mandate as head of the Judiciary.
“Madam Chief Justice and the President of the Supreme Court, you cannot wear two hats that you are preparing elections. You sit in the preparation of elections and when the elections are over you want to wear another hat as an independent Judicial Officer in the determination of the presidential elections,” Garissa MP Aden Duale said in Nandi on Wednesday, insisting that UDA will independently file a petition seeking Koome’s ouster if she fails to get her priorities right while also calling for her resignation.
“She must follow what the constitution says and we are going to make a formal complaint as UDA in the next two days but she is out of order. So you better resign as the Chief Justice and be part of our competitors. We have no problem with that,” Duale said.
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“You can give them legal advice but you cannot seat in the most coveted seat as the President of the Supreme Court who is going to lead the other six judges in the determination of the Presidential election dispute and now you are sitting to help us prepare free, fair and credible elections.”
Apart from the Chief Justice, Ruto’s allies also want Interior CS Fred Matiangi, his PS Karanja Kibicho as well as ICT CS Jose Mucheru to also stop being part of anything touching on preparations for next year’s polls.
