Former Chief Justice Maraga condemns attack on judges

Retired Chief Justice David Maraga has defended the Supreme Court which is battling for its soul following myriad allegations facing it.

The top court is on trial, with Chief Justice Martha Koome, her deputy Philomena Mwilu and Justices Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko filing separate cases to stop the processing of removal petitions filed against them accusing them of alleged gross misconduct and incompetence.

At the same time, High Court Judge Dorah Chepkwony is battling the Judicial Service Commission before the same court while Justice Alfred Mabeya is before the commission following a petition by former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi.

Maraga, who spoke on Thursday, urged those with evidence against judicial officers and Judges to present it before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Instead, he said, the current standoff in the Judiciary amounts to a mob lynching judges.

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 “What is happening and we are seeing in the media and it’s a very unfortunate situation is like mob lynching of judges. If there are cases where those judges are corrupt, please give evidence. If you have no evidence and it’s just a matter of malicious allegations that is not right,” said Maraga.

Last December, LSK President Faith Odhiambo pointed out that claims of corruption, inconsistency, and misconduct had eroded public confidence in the third arm of government.

She said that it had become impossible for the Judiciary to ‘defend to re-evaluate itself’ as even lawyers were becoming helpless before their clients even in straightforward cases as justice is tilted to the highest bidder.

“Instead of Justice and truth being weighed against evidence, it is traded against the highest bidder in total disregard to the rule of law and constitutional and legal principles,” claimed Odhiambo.

On Thursday, Maraga said though he does not defend the judges because some could be indeed corrupt just like during his tenure.

“Corruption is there even when I was there, there were cases of corruption. When petitions came we dealt with some, there are some I can assure you I dismissed as CJ since I had that power,” said Maraga.

He added: “There are some who would come and say, look, I brought my strong case here and judgement was against me, I would write to that person and ask him to appeal.
The former CJ was addressing the current impulse between senior lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, and Havi with the judiciary.

Ahmednasir and Havi have been vocal on their social accounts that the current CJ must resign for, among other things, alleged failure to tame corruption.

Koome invited Ahmednasir to present his evidence but the senior lawyer rubbished the invite.

In court, the seven senior judges have terms the campaign as a tactic to intimidate judges and kill confidence with the judiciary

Maraga himself is also in court. He sued Ahmednasir over social media claims which he termed defamatory when he was the Chief Justice.

On the other hand, Ahmednasir in his reply said that it was a public interest critique of Kenya’s third CJ after the 2010 constitution.

“I am not saying he could not be corrupt. I mean the assumption is that if the judge ruled against you, then he must have been bribed to rule against you, which is wrong,” said Maraga.

Maraga said this when he attended the seventh edition of The People Dialogue Festival at Uhuru Park in Nairobi.

He said the fact that you have lost a case does not mean that the judge who ruled against you is corrupt.
The CJ said if one thinks there is corruption, be diligent enough by getting to the root of the matter, investigate and get evidence.