Judiciary is final barrier against impunity

What is the future of the war on restoring integrity to our political platform and public service? Time after time, whenever it appears the battle is about to be won, the architects of impunity within Government work extra hard and win the day.

For now it appears that things are headed this way, at least on the political front, and with the General Election approaching. Members of Parliament, with the help of the State Law Office have ensured that the Bill on integrity is watered down to the bone, rendering it almost useless. How did we get here.

It is a journey that began with the sham of a General Election in 2007 in which most of those now in Government benefited from incompetence by the then Electoral Commission of Kenya which allowed various forms of rigging to take place right under its nose.

Having been elected to Parliament, their sole goal has been to benefit from the old corruption networks and use them to stay in power.

The battle to ensure the new Constitution became law was correctly depicted as a fight between the dogs of old corruption and those seeking a shift ion the way Kenyan politics is run.

Rogue legislature

But because Kenyans stood firm, we now have a Constitution that is perhaps the most forward looking in Africa after South Africa’s. Unfortunately, those who crafted the supreme law of the land left its enactment in the hands of a rogue Parliament populated by individuals ready to shed their principles for the sake of cash. As a result, Bills meant to entrench democracy and restore integrity in the management of public affairs have been amended and torn apart by Parliament and the State Law Office.

Why has integrity been reduced to the matter of the International Criminal Court and the two cases facing two prominent Kenyans who are seeking tickets to State House?

Why should the fate of two individuals define the destiny of future political governance at the expense of the Constitution? When a self-declared presidential candidate and Cabinet minister charged with matters of justice stands up to defend what he knows is a faulty and probably unconstitutional Bill, then we are in deep trouble.

If it is true indeed that whenever a statute is in conflict with the Constitution, the latter has the last laugh, why is the State Law Office failing in its role to ensure that Bills that come to Parliament meet this minimum standard even after it has sought, as required by law, the opinion of the Commission for Implementation of the Constitution? Let us make it clear that under local and international every Kenyan, especially those charged with serious crimes, have a right to due judicial process even thought they are suspects.

Ethnic card

The danger comes when Bill is politicised to the extent that it is seen as having been crafted to lock out certain communities from State House.

When the Committee of Experts sat down and came up with the so-called “Zero Draft”, they handed it over to MPs to discuss and reach a consensus.

What was then voted on by Kenyans in 2010 was the “Final Draft” of the Constitution. It was passed by a respectable majority and became law.

Thereafter every MP swore to uphold and defend, come what may.

They have systematically broken that oath and now a law that is meant to ensure future public appointments meet the high threshold set by the Constitution are being reduced to a political and tribal contest that demeans the very spirit of the same Constitution.

At the moment, the only institution that has upheld the spirit of the Constitution had in mind is the Judiciary. We have witnessed the fall from grace of the second most powerful individual in the Judiciary. Not only that, but several judges have been show the door thanks to the new system of vetting and a competent vetting tribunal.

Utter nonsense

At this very moment in time, the Judiciary is the only barrier between the lords of impunity and their goal of ensuring the old corruption networks retain their stranglehold on the economy and politics.

No wonder then that they are now using compliant media outlets to spread the lie that the vetting process is flawed and will deprive the Judiciary of much needed experience.

That is utter and absolute rubbish and Kenyans should call their bluff!