President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday slammed the Judiciary for abetting corruption and misconduct in office by shielding corrupt judges from being investigated.
In a speech read by Attorney-General George Kihara Kariuku during the launch of the State of the Judiciary and Administration of Justice Report(SOJAR) 2020/2021, the president said courts should not use court orders to insulate themselves from accountability saying that is not democracy but judicial authoritarianism.
”Madam CJ, this is not what the people of Kenya signed up for as they voted in their millions for our new Constitution. In recent times, madam CJ public discourse has been awash with allegations of partisan comprised decisions of judicial officers that are not keeping up with the expectation of our sacred covenant,” the president said.
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President Uhuru described the country’s judicial officers as preaching water but drinking wine, while demanding of others what they are not willing to apply to themselves.
“It has not been lost of Kenyans that a state of recent decisions by the judiciary has had the effect of saying the judicial officers cannot be held accountable or be subject to the same laws that other public officers are held to. How can the judiciary have a credible and more voice to preside over corruption cases when it bars its own from the standards of accountability it applied to others?” Uhuru posed.
The Head of State has also called on the State of the Judiciary and Administration of Justice Report(SOJAR) 2020/2021 to be a constant reminder that judicial authority is not exercised in a vacuum.
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“It must respect the will of the people to uphold our heritage and traditions and strictly confine itself to the scope and limits of the functions delegated to it by the people of Kenya. Like other organs and agencies, the judiciary must expect and indeed invite robust feedback from Kenyans on its actions and decisions no arm of government is above critique,” the President added.
