Optimize Your Strengths is a book by James Brook and Paul Brewerton that follows the story of Jo, a recently appointed leader in the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world of the recruitment industry, who hits a crisis point.
Turning to a strengths coach, Jo is led to realise how his deficit-based mindset is trapping him on a self-limiting path. Learning to understand his key strengths, and how to use them to stay on a positive path, Jo regains control.
Last week, two significant things happened that have shaken the Judiciary and have definitely sent the institution looking inwards. Like Jo, the Judiciary is now at a point where it must consider whether it is taking current wins or keeping up unnecessary fights.
Firstly, President Uhuru Kenyatta made comments about the Judiciary in his Madaraka Day speech. In his reaction to the ruling that stopped the Building Bridges Initiative, the President warned against subverting the will of the people.
He reminded judges that when applying the law, they must always think of the bigger picture, especially when it comes to the future of the nation. The President made it clear that everyone must uphold the Constitution and especially the sovereignty of Kenyans.
Secondly, he approved 34 judges but rejected six others in a move that has attracted condemnation from various quarters. Some argue that the President cannot cherrypick from the list forwarded to him by the Judicial Service Commission.
But there are also those who argue that the President is not a rubber-stamp and can therefore return the names of those he believes do not meet the threshold of being judges. And this is exactly what he did.
This has happened just under three weeks after the momentous moment of swearing in Kenya’s first woman Chief Justice. CJ Koome, while taking office, said she will work to ensure better relations between the Judiciary and the Executive.
The swearing-in of the judges shows that there is an established good working relationship between the President and the Chief Justice. It is important for the two institutions to work in harmony for the good of Kenyans.
For two years, former Chief Justice David Maraga could not solve the impasse on the appointment of the judges. Some say it was because he and the Judiciary never took much consideration of the interdependence of the three arms of government.
Article 160 (1) states that, “In the exercise of judicial authority, the Judiciary, as constituted by Article 161, shall be subject only to this Constitution and the law and shall not be subject to the control or direction of any person or authority.”
The independence of the Judiciary is therefore guaranteed by the Constitution and as someone who took an oath to upheld the Constitution, the President cannot outrightly go against it.
In other words, the President has not contravened or will never interfere with its independence, but as head of government, he must defend the Constitution.
As Head of State, the President has a duty to ensure that the Constitution is not contravened under any circumstance. He cannot, therefore, sit back and rubber-stamp the work of the Judiciary and Parliament without asking questions.
It is for the same reason that the President as times declined to assent to some laws passed by Parliament. He is the number one champion of the Constitution and must ensure there is no violation at any turn. This does not amount to interfering with the work of the other institutions.
At the same time, it is important to note that the country has faced a shortage of judges and ended up having a huge backlog of cases. The appointment of the 34 judges comes at a critical time for the country and should be celebrated.
Lastly, because of the narrow view that some have taken, it has escaped many that 15 out of the 34 appointed judges are women. A big step towards gender parity and a pat on the President's back for making this happen.
