Willy Mutunga Explains How He Has Failed Kenyans

Former Chief Justice (CJ) Willy Mutunga on Tuesday stated that his generation has failed Kenyans and he called upon the next one to solve the country's political problems by shaping debates around the constitution while resisting negative ethnic narratives.

Speaking to BBC, where he spoke a range of issues surrounding the political climate in Kenya, Dr Mutunga highlighted that it is up to the future generations to heed to his advice but not to be controlled by it.

“My generation has let down the country, and I put myself in that position as well. I am asking the younger generations in Kenya to consider the wisdom of an older person but not to control or tell them. They have to choose their own leaders and control their own movements,” he asserted.

He disclosed that even intellectuals like himself who ought to be non-partisan for the good of the country are still enslaved by the two main political factions, Jubilee ruling party and the National Super Alliance (NASA) opposition coalition.

[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta and NASA leader Raila Odinga"][/caption]

Dr Mutunga also criticized Kenyans for not building strong institutions, claiming that it is the reason why the judiciary finds itself in tough position whenever it makes a ruling.

“I blame Kenyans for not building strong institutions. If judges decide a case based on the Constitution, evidence and the law, but Kenyans are organised on the basis of ethnicity," he commented.

The former president of the Supreme Court told the BBC  that what is needed in Kenya is the development of alternative political party based on the Constitution, a process which he acknowledged it would take a long time.

“It could take 20 years or more, and I am not saying it is easy. It is a view I have taken publicly since 1997 – maybe if we started then, we would have been somewhere now,” he reitarated.

He then expressed his displeasure on the political parties for not organising their politics around the constitution.

However, he applauded the judiciary - currrently headed by Chief Justice David Maraga- for being an institution that has sought to streamline the court system that had previously been dogged by corruption and political interference.

[caption caption="Chief Justice David Maraga"][/caption]

The former CJ maintained that he still has hope in the constitution revealing that,“There is something that can be built upon. So much focus is on what fails, and not much is on the hope to make things better; which the constitution is still doing.”

  • .