On Monday, November 4, 2019, Kenya’s Chief Justice David Maraga called a press conference outside the judiciary to vent about what he described as a secret plot to oust him.
It was a good story by all definitions: David has always cut the figure of a humble, unassuming “grandfather” who will quickly turn the other cheek if you slap him.
Probably that is why we treated him with kid gloves at the press conference. One would have expected more “hard” tackles from our side.
The following is a list of questions that we did not ask the CJ, either because we were fooled by his wryly “grandfather” smile or as usual, we did not want to upset the apple.
1)Mister CJ, considering the enormous powers that comes with your office; the power to jail and set free, don’t you think Kenyans will find it hard to believe that you cannot fight back these people you accuse of plotting to oust you and undermining the judiciary?
2)Mister CJ, just the other day, we saw you waving to the crowds from the top of your luxury car in a convoy of the same people you now accuse of undermining your power. You told off voices that reminded you that as CJ, you had no business queuing to “welcome” the president in your village; that this was parochial and belittling. You ignored these voices of reason then. Why now do you whine that the people you were warned against are belittling you? Respect is earned-have you earned it Mister CJ, or are the chicken coming home for you?
2)Mister CJ, the court of public opinion regards your institution as one that has its head up in the clouds; one that is largely out of touch with the ordinary Kenyans, don’t you think your whining (Are you whining Mister CJ?) will leave many even more confused about Judiciary’s role in their lives? After this press conference Mister CJ, why would Kenyans continue placing their confidence in a judiciary whose president fears government officials way junior than himself?
3)Mister CJ, you complain, and rightly so, your office’s request for a Mercedes C-Class was turned down. Are you aware that most of the Kenyans out there desperately seeking justice from your courts for years walk or tens of kilometers to courts, and walk back, tired and hungry, after their cases have been adjourned or files disappeared for the umpteenth time?
4)Mister CJ, you came to office as a meek, man of God. Heck, you even said you are so religious you would not hold court sittings on Sabbath Day; are we seeing a transformed CJ; one that, having tasted power, now wants a bigger piece of the pie? What happened to “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and the rest shall added unto you?”
We are the watchdogs of the society. But for a long time, we have shied away from watching the judiciary. And from the past, Kenya’s judiciary has either sat on the fence or sided against us.
Some time back, we made a passionate appeal to the judiciary to be considerate on the amounts they award against the media.
We pointed out that while we do not support a rogue media hell-bent on character assassination and unprofessional ism, the world of libel and defamation in Kenya is fast being controlled by cartels and ambulance chasers: one keen on using the threat of “ going to court” to put a strangle hold on the media: the other a pack of ambulance chasers.
We took it a notch higher by pointing out that next to politicians, some of the highest amounts awarded against the media were to members of the judiciary.
Nobody listened.
So, if judiciary does not treat us with kid gloves, why should we?
