Televangelist David Kariuki Ngare popularly known as Gakuyo on Tuesday, June 9, condemned Chief Justice David Maraga for calling out President Uhuru Kenyatta in public.
While addressing Maraga during a press briefing, Gakuyo stated that the judiciary needed more magistrates than judges, claiming that the latter was lazy and had accumulated uncompleted work over the years.
"The judges that you (Maraga) have are lazy, you should start by cracking your whip so that the judiciary functions smoothly.
"Even the president had previously advised you to increase the number of magistrates as opposed to the number of judges because most of the cases are handled by magistrates," Gakuyo stated.
Further, he warned Maraga against disrespecting the president, saying that the head of state had a right to question the names of judges presented before him.
"We know that the 41 individuals presented for approval by the president have integrity issues. That means that Maraga wants to leave behind cartels in the judiciary when he retires and we want to tell him that he is not an equal of the president.
"He should not address the president as if he is a school going, child. He should respect him as the head of state," he added.
In addition, Gakuyo demanded that Maraga needed to apologise to the head of state.
Maraga, on Monday, June 8, complained that the president had refused to appoint judges despite a recommendation by the Judicial Service Commission. This, he stated, had caused legal dents in the commission.
"I must remind you, your excellency, that you swore to defend and uphold the constitution and the laws of Kenya. The constitution requires you to appoint the judges recommended to you by the JSC which you have refused to do," Maraga continued.
He added that the executive had shown a pattern of routinely disregarding court orders.
"For example, despite an existing court order, the government recently evicted over 1,000 families from the Kariobangi area of Nairobi all in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic," he stated.
