Judiciary is not immune to the temptations of corruption and its officers must guard against criminals out to exploit court processes to escape the consequences of their economic crimes,
President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
President Uhuru said brokerage of justice has left many Kenyans broken and suffering and their businesses, health and lives destroyed through impunity.
He said there are known culprits who exploit the court processes and judgements to escape from the consequences of their economic crimes against the people of Kenya.
“Corruption is continuing its vicious attack on our people and our nation. The Judiciary is not immune to its illicit lures, and its intimidation,” said President Uhuru.
The President spoke at the Supreme Court grounds where he witnessed the presentation of the 7th State of Judiciary and Administration of Justice Report (SOJAR), 2017/18.
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He was
accompanied by DP William Ruto, and the two speakers of the National Assembly and Senate, Justin Muturi and Ken Lusaka respectively.
The annual report is a statement of accountability in which the judiciary details its successes and challenges during the year in review while drawing a roadmap on how to fix the identified gaps.
“ As I speak today, projects worth colossal amounts of money have stalled, either because the court has put injunctions or stopped the processes altogether,” he said.
The President said it was unfortunate that a thread of selfish individuals has continued to block government projects with undeclared interests and in the process left many Kenyans suffering and denied essential services.
“And as if this is not enough, the taxpayer has to honour interest and penalty payments on loans for stalled projects,” said the President.
Chief Justice David Maraga agreed with the President that corruption was endemic in the country, including the Judiciary and urged all Kenyans to say no to it.
President Uhuru said no Kenyan is above the law and the judicial system should not be used to protect some individuals.
“Using the law to protect individuals from the law is indeed a profound assault on justice. It damages and endangers our constitutional dispensation, and if allowed to continue, risks casting us, with time, into a judicial tyranny,” he said.
The president also asked the judiciary to prioritize cases involving government policies which he said should be determined within clearly defined timelines.
The Deputy President called on Kenyans to seek factual information before condemning the government over corruption.
He said some of the figures being given through the media on alleged corruption involving government projects were not factual.
Others who spoke at the ceremony included Muturi, Lusaka and the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi.
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