Law is just common sense and English — Manyora tells Havi

Political analyst Herman Manora and Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi gave each other a dressing down while opining on the recent  protest burst by Chief Justice David Maraga on case backlog and appointment of judges.

While appearing on JKL, Havi stated that the quest to impeach the President of the Republic of Kenya is one made by the Law Society of Kenya but Manyora asked him to focus on more important issues.

“There are better things LSK can do other than talk about impeachment… these are small fellows trying to talk about impeaching a president,” said Manyora.

This did not go down well with Havi, who questioned the Linguist’s knowledge in matters law.

“It doesn't surprise me that we have in front of us somebody who claims to be a professor, in fact I’m told he is a professor of communication which indicates that he has no knowledge whatsoever in respect of the very serious matter that we are dealing with,” he remarked.

Manyora refused to take this lying down saying he wonders why lawyers always feel they are special.

“You do not have to be a lawyer to understand the law. I wonder why lawyers think they are so special…Law is just common sense and English,” he retorted.

On the sentiments by the Chief Justice earlier this week, Havi termed it a ‘lamentation’ and not an outburst as many had put it.

“I wouldn’t want to term the pronouncement by the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya as an outburst, I think what came out of the mouth of the Chief Justice was a lamentation.”

Manyora agreed with him to some extent, saying what the CJ said was not out of order but in terms of presentation, it fell short.

Maraga on Monday made his frustrations known to the media through a presser that had some hard-hitting words directed at President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Maraga blamed the President for disregarding court orders, terming it a recipe for anarchy.

“The refusal of the President to appoint the 41 judges, was a grave violation of the constitution

“The President's disregard of court orders doesn't board well for our constitutional democracy & is potentially a recipe for anarchy; the Executive routinely disregards court orders,” he said.

In his address, the CJ also voiced frustrations at how he has sought an audience with President Kenyatta but to no avail.

He challenged the Head of State to uphold the Constitution and be an example by obeying the law.