Why meeting between Ruto and Koome is threat to the rule of law

The controversial meeting between the Judiciary and Executive arms of government on Monday spearheaded by President William Ruto and Chief Justice Martha Koome could become a pitfall to the rule of law in the country.

Those concerns have been raised by legal practitioners, politicians and scholars, especially after Justice Koome was reported to have promised President Ruto that courts will approach government litigations more consciously.

Political leaders led by Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga have also rubbished the meeting, calling it an affront to judicial independence and the rule of law in the country.

CJ's promise

It was reported in local media, quoting sources at the meeting, that the CJ undertook on behalf of the courts to give special attention to those cases without limiting the citizens’ right to litigate against the government.

Prof Gitile Naituli, who teaches governance and management, is among those who cautioned against the Judiciary making such commitments instead of independently litigating all cases with no special privileges or considerations whatsoever.

“Her promise is very dangerous because in other words, she is saying they will be conscious to rule against the government, when the Judiciary should be strictly guided by the rules of evidence,” says Naituli.

Critics have also asked if the commitments reported in the media after the meeting were a collective agreement of all judicial officers or they were Koome’s personal statements.

Judicial mandate

“Did they agree as a Judiciary or was it a personal promise? The judicial mandate is defined by the Constitution and cannot be arrived by an agreement between the head of Executive and that of the Judiciary,” said Naituli.

Alarm has also been raised by political pundits who fear that independents arms of government could soon be unable to perform their functions of checking each other’s excesses.

Lawyer Gitobu Imanyara has also described recent attacks by the president against the Judiciary as the height of impunity and are calculated, for all intents and purposes, to undermine the gains made in post-independent Kenya’s liberation history.

“The Judiciary occupies an independent tier of the governance framework of our nation. As such, this autonomous arm of government is a symbol of security among the citizenry. The unwarranted attacks on the Judiciary are a threat to personal as well as national security,” said Imanyara. 

He says what is happening is a return to the ignominious past in which the Judiciary was domesticated as a loyal lapdog of the Executive and in which Kenyans witnessed the systematic emasculation of the judicial arm of the government.

The lawyer who was detained in the struggle for change says efforts to again stifle the space for the divergence of opinion is unacceptable, given the strides the nation has made towards democratisation of institutional governance in Kenya.

Advice given by seasoned lawyers like senior counsel John Khaminwa against the CJ meeting the president to discuss how the Judiciary should conduct its business appears to have been ignored by the CJ.

The veteran lawyer, who was also detained in 1982, says no other president that has ruled the country since independence has ever held a meeting with Chief Justice to talk about how courts should conduct business.

“With tremendous respect to our president, he is opening a dangerous chapter in the judicial and legal history of the country. After his departure, some individual could want to press for this matters to be looked at again by the courts,” says Khaminwa.

Awkward position

He said the first President Jomo Kenyatta was praised by the Court of East Africa Appeal judge, Sir Charles Newbold, who served between 1966 and 1969 who said at no time during his service did he get the impression that president was interfering with the Judiciary.The Law Society of Kenya officials have also expressed their disapproval of the meeting between Ruto and Koome, saying the situation now puts the Chief Justice in an awkward position.

The LSK Vice President Faith Odhiambo questioned how the serious allegations made by the president against judges could be addressed at an informal meeting held at State House.

She argued that the meeting lacked accountability and therefore not the correct forum to discuss the integrity and conduct of the judges accused by the president and his supporters of taking bribes from litigants.

President’s outburst

“To oblige to the President’s outburst compromises the work of the Judicial Service Commission and also as I have said, infringes on the independence of the judiciary, which is  absurd,” she said.

The LSK President Eric Theuri has also called for the Constitution to be guarded because there are people who were detained so that Kenyans can enjoy the liberties they have today.

He challenged members of the legal fraternity to stand on the shoulders of those who sacrificed their lives, resources and time and be prepared to make similar sacrifices.

Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo also dismissed the meeting when he appeared on the KTN Breakfact show yesterday morning, calling it as unfortunate, unnecessary and ill-timed.

It was reported that President Ruto committed himself at the meeting to increase the Judiciary budgetary allocation and to hire of more judges for both the High Court and the Court of Appeal

Amolo, however, said it did not require a meeting at State House for the Judiciary to have a vehicle leasing programme for its transportation needs, while increasing the number of judges and the budget allocation is done through Parliament.

Judiciary budget

He said all the Judiciary needs to do is channel their requirements through the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee because increasing the allocation to the Judiciary is done by Parliament and not the Executive.

Other leaders also used their X handles (formerly Twitter) to challenge the Judiciary for allegedly working with some corrupt lawyers to delay justice for litigants, especially those involved in land cases across the country.

Justice Koome released a statement later after holding another meeting with judges highlighting key issues that were discussed affecting the Judiciary and reinforcing the outcomes of the discussions held at State House.

Lawyer Imanyara, however, says attempts by President Ruto and his deputy to arm-twist the Judiciary, the bedrock on which justice and liberty are anchored, is an attempt to undermine the Constitution.