Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga Asks Judges to Strike

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga addresses students during a public lecture on January 29, 2020, at the Kenya Methodist University (KeMU).
Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga addresses students during a public lecture on January 29, 2020, at the Kenya Methodist University (KeMU).
Daily Nation

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has challenged judges to go on strike in protest of the Executive arm of government.

The former CJ on Thursday, October 28, told judges to down their tools in protest of the Executive's trend of ignoring  court orders.

Dr Mutunga opined that the Executive will not respect the judiciary if the judges don't act now. He also called out the Executive for ignoring court orders and disregarding the rule of law.

President Uhuru Kenyatta government and the judiciary have been at loggerheads especially after the Supreme Court annulled his 2017 win, and promised to 'revisit'.

Undated image of Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga during a court seating while he served as the Chief Justice.
Image of Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga during a past court session.
The Standard

He urged all Kenyans to demand the government to fully comply with the orders issued by the court, such as the payment of awards, costs and their accruing interests in the case of exiled lawyer Dr Miguna Miguna.

Mutunga noted that he wanted to bring back Miguna as a way of defending the independence of the judiciary. He further explained that he based his decision to travel on the defiance of the Kenyan government, its agencies and senior officials against the numerous court orders in favour of the exiled lawyer.

He also demanded that the government issues a public apology to Miguna and to all Kenyans for all the violations of the constitution and contempt of court and that it complies fully with all court orders.

In 2019, former Chief Justice David Maraga warned that disobeying a court order was not only a violation of the Constitution but also a dereliction of public duty.

But despite the warnings, the Executive and the Judiciary remained on a collision path, with the Law Society of Kenya president Nelson Havi vowing to seek the Attorney General Paul Kihara's audience to discuss the matter.

 

Havi further stated that the LSK will compile all cases where government officials failed to comply with court orders and file a composite case, seeking a declaration that the concerned officials are unfit to hold public office.

Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday, October 28, Havi revealed that the AG declined to meet him, raising questions of integrity from his office and the overall commitment to ensuring government officials obey court orders.

One of the cases that caused public outrage is the swearing-in of 41 judges recommended by the Judicial Service Commission. Dr Maraga accused President Kenyatta of refusing to swear-in the judges despite two court orders.

But the President claimed that intelligence reports that he had received on the judges showed that some lacked integrity on the job.

LSK President Nelson Havi Making a Submission at the Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday, August 17.
LSK President Nelson Havi Making a Submission at the Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday, August 17.
File

 

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