Ruto Men Want CJ Koome Out Over 2022 Rigging Fears

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Chief Justice Martha Koome being vetted for office in May 2021
File

Chief Justice Martha Koome's decision to chair the National Multi-Sectoral Consultative Forum for Elections Preparedness has rubbed Deputy President William Ruto's campaign the wrong way. 

Insiders in Ruto's campaign on Wednesday, November 24, condemned the CJ and asked her to resign from her position as President of the Supreme Court indicating that they feared the current arrangement would compromise the fairness of the 2022 General Election.

Garissa Town MP Aden Duale accused Koome of trying to wear two hats in an attempt to participate in two conflicting roles.

Koome chairs the intergovernmental committee that also brings together President Uhuru Kenyatta's loyal state officers such as Interior CS Fred Matiang;I and his PS Karanja Kibicho. 

Deputy President William Ruto and Murang'a senator Irungu Kang'ata  at his residence Karen on September 7, 2021.
Deputy President William Ruto and Murang'a senator Irungu Kang'ata at his residence Karen on September 7, 2021.
Irungu Kang'ata Twitter

"Madam Chief Justice and the President of the Supreme Court, you cannot wear two hats that you are preapring elections and when the elections are over, you want to wear another hat as an independent Judicial officer in the determination of the presidential election. 

"She must follow what the constitution says. We are going to make a formal complaint as UDA in the next two days. he is  out of order. You either resign as Chief Justice and be part of  our competitors. we have no problem with that. you can give them legal advise," she stated.

His Kikuyu counterpart Kimani Ichung'wah corroborated with his statement noting that Koome should be careful not to be dragged into the theatrics of vote rigging.

"Our chief Justice, respectfully, the Judiciary has become the foremost defender of our Constitution in the recent past. The Judiciary becomes the final arbitar in all electoral matters.

"We want to caution our Chief Justice respectifully to ensure that the Judiciary and herself are not recruited into this illegal unconstitutional outfits," he explained.

Ruto, did not directly discuss the matter but urged state officers to take up roles in accordance with the Constitution to avoid overlapping and taking part in illegal entities.

"We have faith that we will have peace in Kenya. It is our responsibilities as leaders to ensure everyone carries out their mandate as per the Constitution," he explained.

She noted that the outfit was formed after they discovered that they had a role to play in free and fair elections outcome.

“We owe it to Kenyans to ensure that there is electoral justice in the process that we engage in and also in our preparedness and none of us can deliver the mandate alone.

“For me chairing this forum it feels like the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) where we come together as all the agencies involved in the justice sector to share our challenges and collaborate in the interest of offering justice to Kenyans because no one agency can succeed in doing that by themselves,” she explained.

Her critics, however, have termed her participation as undermining her neutrality if the results of the election are contested at the Supreme Court where she serves as a judge and head of the bench. 

DP William Ruto and Garissa Town MP Aden Duale in Busia on Saturday, October 23, 2021.
DP William Ruto and Garissa Town MP Aden Duale in Busia on Saturday, October 23, 2021.
William Ruto Twitter
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