The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has disagreed with the ruling issued by Justice Lawrence Mugambi regarding the deployment of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to assist the police.
In a statement issued following the court's decision to allow the deployment, LSK President Faith Odhiambo opined that the deployment of the KDF set a bad precedent for the country.
LSK maintained that the government did not follow the set guidelines on the deployment of the military, arguments that the court agreed with.
However, LSK indicated that they would wait for the court to issue its full judgment before deciding on the next course of action.
The lawyers noted that they would do everything possible to ensure that the rights of Kenyans are protected even with the deployment.
"We respectfully disagree with the court. We also express our reservations about the delay by the court to issue the full reasoned version in order to enable us to evaluate the options available to the Law Society.
"We commit to consider the written ruling and take the next course of action in defence of the Constitution and the rule of law," read the statement in part.
On the other hand, the lawyers maintained that the current situation in the country can be adequately handled by the police, hence there is no need to deploy the military.
Justice Mugambi okayed the deployment of the military as was gazetted by Defence CS Aden Duale and approved by the National Assembly.
However, he noted that the government did not give clear details on the operation of the KDF. Consequently, they were given two days to address the issues raised by the court.
"Upon consideration of the application and upon hearing the submissions of the counsels in the matter, it is hereby directed that the terms of military engagement, and duration of engagement be clearly defined and gazetted within the next two days to alleviate public fear that their constitutional liberties could be in jeopardy and also to give the public confidence that their liberties will be observed during the duration of military engagement.
"The Court retains residual powers of oversight the military deployment on the observance of human rights and this file shall remain open during the course of this Petition to receive and deal with any complaints of violation for as long as the military intervention lasts," read the judgement in part.
