• LSK boss Nelson Havi said AG Kihara Kariuki is acting in a manner suggesting he is ignorant of Kenyan laws.
• Havi said the issues raised by Maraga are of great concern both to the Judiciary and lawyers.
The Law Society of Kenya has defended Chief Justice David Maraga over his recent address, dismissing claims that his sentiments were personal and an outburst against the President.
The society’s president Nelson Havi on Wednesday said Maraga’s sentiments were a lamentation as a result of frustrations by the Executive.
Havi said the issues raised by Maraga are of great concern both to the Judiciary and lawyers.
He was speaking on Wednesday night during a television interview on Citizen TV’s JKL show.
He further dismissed claims that Maraga and Attorney General Kihara Kariuki might be having personal wars that they have not settled for years.
Kariuki at one point unsuccessfully applied for the CJ position, which Maraga eventually won.
Kariuki was later appointed as the president of the Appeals Court before he resigned after being appointed as the Attorney General by Uhuru.
“The two gentlemen are the best of friends and classmates. They have come a long way. There is no reason why they should have unsettled scores,” Havi said.
Nelson Havi: The war against corruption should not be weaponised. Most of the Judges and Magistrates know the correct thing to do but they are afraid of individual attacks from the state. The executive should allow the judicial officers to perform their duty without influence.
— Nelson Havi (@NelsonHavi) June 10, 2020
“As a matter of fact, they are performing different duties that need to be in tandem...Only that the AG has fallen in a trap like those who served before him.”
Havi noted that this is not the first time Maraga has come out openly to speak about the suppression of the Judiciary by the Executive.
“The CJ is not a small boy or a mad man, he is an accomplished lawyer whose statement should be treated with the magnitude it deserves,” Havi said.
The LSK President said the Judiciary exists so as to assist the government in upholding the rule of law and thus any form of undermining is a disservice to the same rule of law.
He said instead of Uhuru refusing to swear in the 41 judges recommended by the Judicial Service Commission on grounds that they have integrity issues, the matters ought to have been raised at the interview level.
By engaging in public attacks against the President and the Executive, the Chief Justice is not only seeking to erode the confidence that the Executive has always had in the Judiciary but also to railroad judicial officers into anti-Executive stances.Attorney General Kihara Kariuki.
“The Executive and the Legislature should not dictate to the JSC what to do. The Judiciary is an independent institution whose independence must be respected. If the JSC has done the due process and recommended the names of the Judges, the President has no authority to refuse them,” he said.
Havi said the 17,000 members of the society last month made a resolution to petition the National Assembly to initiate a motion of impeachment against the President which the society will pursue to the end.
Havi further took issue with the AG for alleging that the President had refused to swear in the judges for reasons based in his mind.
According to Havi, AG Kihara as the topmost lawyer should act as the unifying factor between the Executive and the Judiciary to seal the cracks.
Havi said instead of lashing back at the CJ, Kariuki should have just walked to the Supreme Court and asked Maraga to accompany him to State House where they would have resolved the issues.
The LSK boss said Kariuki is acting in a manner suggesting he is ignorant of Kenyan laws.
“As a result, the society will also pursue removal of both the Attorney General and the Solicitor General from the list of advocates because it is evident that they are failing in their mandate,” he said.
Havi said the two deserve to be deprived of the membership because they have failed and offended the very office that put them where they are.
The AG earlier this week accused Maraga of playing populist brinkmanship with his latest claims on the delayed appointment of judges.
Kariuki further accused Maraga of violating the norms of communication in government.
“They (Maraga’s comments) are not only a breach of established norms but are also more puzzling given the direct lines of communication between the CJ, the Attorney General and the President,” the AG said.
He said the CJ risks setting judges against the Executive with the public attacks “which have now taken a decidedly personal slant”.
The AG said the President cannot be expected to defend and uphold the law and at the same time be pressured to appoint to office individuals against whom competent state organs have cast aspersions concerning their integrity.
The AG accused the Supreme Court president of executing “an attempt to gloss over case backlogs that the Judiciary has suffered, and especially under his leadership”.
The Executive said the CJ is to blame for the inadequacies of the judicial system, adding he needs to respect that the government is one entity.
“All its arms and levels were constituted by the people of Kenya to serve them and deliver the public good. The people deserve wise and effective leadership that builds synergies and prioritises service over self,” Kariuki said.