This archive report was first published on 12 June 2021.
ODM leader Raila Odinga has challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to share the dossier about the judges he rejected with the public.
Speaking on Saturday, Raila said the country deserves an informed debate rather than a shouting match on the appointment of judges.
He appealed to all leaders of the three branches of government to seek common ground in their respective powers to achieve a more effective government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
‘I challenge the Executive arm of government to share with the Judiciary and the public the concerns and evidence that led to the rejection of the six judges nominated by the Judicial Service Commission for superior courts,’ Raila said.
He reiterated that Kenya cannot survive a supremacy war between its institutions, citing the doctrine of the ‘separation of powers’ as one of the constitutional orders built around.
‘Before we gave ourselves the 2010 Constitution, we had gone through an era where this doctrine had been abused and the Executive branch of government had interfered with the functions of the other branches making democratic governance impossible,’ Raila said.
He noted that over the last decade, the three branches of government have been locked in a competitive relationship instead of a complementary one, leading to the nation swinging from one absurd state of affairs to another.
‘No one branch of government can help Kenyans solve their problems without the help of the other. Any attempt by any one arm of the government to outshine the others or to show that it’s the one that matters the most only works to hurt the common Kenyan and the interests of the nation,’ Raila said.
His sentiments come amid increasing pressure on President Kenyatta to appoint the six judges left out on grounds that they had integrity issues.
According to former CJ David Maraga, President Kenyatta cast aspersions on the integrity of six JSC nominees by not backing his claims with evidence.
Chief Justice Martha Koome also echoed Maraga’s sentiments, saying President Kenyatta has no way out but to appoint the six remaining judges.
