Legal formalism is the pagan’s sword against war on corruption

In Kenya, the biggest threat to the rule of law – the equal, effective, and fair administration of justice – has often been the Executive. This was especially true during the eras of the de facto and de jure one-party states. The Judiciary was a lapdog of the Executive. Virtually every judge was roadkill for State House. Even after multipartyism in 1991, the culture of judicial subservience to the Executive persisted until 2010 when judges started to reclaim a measure of independence. But another equally insidious threat to the rule of law has been corruption in the Judiciary. A lifestyle audit of judges and magistrates in Kenya would send more than three quarters of them to jail.

Don’t get me wrong. I still think Executive interference still threatens the rule of law. But methinks the Judiciary – not the Executive – is now the most lethal threat to the rule of law. Thick-heavy cabals – a collection of corruption syndicates – comprising judges, magistrates, lawyers, business interests, the police, politicians, public servants, and prosecutors have formed protection rackets to loot Kenya. Virtually everyone in law enforcement and the Judiciary is on the take. The Judiciary doesn’t need the Executive to defeat the rule of law. The job of subverting the rule of law takes place within the so-called temples of justice. It’s, as they say, an inside job. Equally worse, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) is both hapless and complicit.