Uhuru seems to crave imperial presidency

President Uhuru Kenyatta's constant defiance of the Constitution may pass as just another attempt by leaders to test the constitutional limits but must now elicit a serious debate on what he may want to do as we move towards the end of his term.

There is so much going on in this country that shows we are slipping back to the past autocratic rule but very few seem to be noticing or if they do have taken a rather cavalier and nonchalant attitude.

The vicious war on the Judiciary by the Executive is a vain attempt at having control over the only remaining independent commission. We do not have the luxury of lamenting later if action is not taken now. The cost of such belated motion may be unbearable to a country reeling under the weight of unimaginable debt, poverty and disease burden.

My hunch has been that the President could be testing Kenyans' patience for further breach of the grand law to buttress his succession manoeuvres. His latest argument that he also swore to protect the Constitution is a clear testimony that craving for an imperial presidency is slowly creeping back.

In all these, all eyes were on the new Chief Justice, Martha Koome. Her attendance of the swearing-in of cherry-picked judges has rolled back the gains her predecessors, Willy Mutunga and David Maraga, made by protecting the law with all their might.

The legacy the President so fervently talked about in the nascent period of his second term is no longer in vogue. Today, his world is filled with succession theatrics albeit in feigned fashion.

How did humility and service leadership evade us? We are so mesmerised by power that those tasked with checking the government are compromised and critics silenced as the rule of law is thrown out the window.

History has a long curve, which side it will bend for CJ Koome depends on if she boldly protects the Judiciary from the shackles of ravenous politicians.