Former Chief Justice David Maraga has unleashed a scathing attacking directed at President Uhuru and castigated members of Parliament for not initiating impeachment motion against the Head of State.
An angry Maraga said he had been forced to speak his mind after President Uhuru declined to appoint six judges recommended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Maraga who appeared to have taken the Judiciary vs. Executive war to retirement described the President’s role in the appointment of judges as merely ceremonial saying the appointing authority was the JSC.
“The President’s role is merely ceremonial. The appointing authority is the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). The President cannot decide which judge to appoint and which to leave out,’’ Maraga said.
Maraga said the President should have appointed all the judges as the law provides and then have the ones with integrity issues removed through a tribunal.
He said by leaving out the judges and appointing others, the president had condemned them unheard and the decision was likely to destroy the careers of the affected judges.
Maraga said he had made several attempts to meet the president including suggesting a meeting with Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, but all his efforts were not successful. He lamented that it was not possible to meet somebody who was not willing.
He revealed that he had declined to have some of the judges appointed while leaving others saying it would have set a bad precedent and would have led to judiciary being held at ransom by the executive.
Maraga he was not to blame for the nullification of the presidential results in 2017 saying it was the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that failed to follow the law and which they followed during the repeat election.
The former CJ said the executive has not been following court orders and it was setting a bad precedent which can result into a complete breakdown of law and order.
On Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), Maraga said the initiative had taken a different direction from its original thoughts that were meant to address the vicious cycle of electoral violence but acknowledged that the Handshake brought peace.
He said efforts to extend the President’s term would not work as the term limit is stated in law and could only be extended under extreme circumstances. He made the remarks when he appeared in a local television station.
Maraga appears to have been angered by the President’s Madaraka Day address in Kisumu where he castigated the judiciary and blamed it for issuing orders without looking at the broader picture.
Uhuru cited the case of cancellation of elections in 2017 where he said the country lost billions of shillings whose burden was borne by the people and not the judiciary.
