Kenya: Rule of Law or Rule of Men?

Published on 30th April 2009
Kenya is the only country that sings about being sovereign yet it has failed to implement the rule of law. We have chosen to apply the rule of law selectively as desired by The Executive arm of government.
 
The government as defined by our constitution is composed of  three arms; the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
 
Kenya Laws                      Photo:Courtesy
The Executive is tasked with implementating laws passed by the Legislature. The Executive runs the day to day functions of governance. It controls the army, police and provncial administration. It receives updates to the last second about Kenya. If Ugandan pirates invade Migingo or Kacheliba, the Provincial Administration will alert the presidency in less than 30 seconds.
 
The Executive also appoints and supervises the civil service. In Kenya, the civil service is completely political and appointments of all senior offices are based on their political persuasion. We cannot for example pretend that Francis Muthaura, the Head of Civil Service, and Dr Alfred Mutua, the government’s spokesman are not PNU members. They are PNU operatives. On the same vein, we cannot for once pretend that Mr. Mohamed Isahakia, the PS in the Prime Minister’s office, and Mr. Caroli Omondi, the Administrative Secretary are not ODM members. They are ODM operatives.

The duty of defending our sovereignty lies squarely on The Executive as much as it is a collective responsibility of all of us. The Executive must give explicit orders in defense of Kenya. It must not dilly-dally with our sovereignty. It must act. And as it acts, our political affiliations must not come to play.

That is why when Pirates invade the Kenya part of the Indian Ocean or the Kenyan part of Lake Victoria, the Executive must rise to the occasion. But when such explicit orders are not given and yet pirates are marauding in our country, one is tempted to ask if there is a vacuum. Internal pirates are also slaughtering the citizenry with impunity. Where is law and order?
 
Again, it is The Executive that we turn to. They have the complete monopoly of weapons of state security. If The Executive fails to guarantee the safety of the Kenyan citizen from both external and internal aggression, can we surely tower tall in the League of Nations as sovereign? The jury is out and the verdict clear. The Executive arm of the Kenyan Government has contributed to the suspension of law and order, or abetting of crime. 
 
The Judiciary is supposed to be independent in Kenya. Kenyans look upon the Judiciary as the arbiter between the state and the people. It should have the capacity to impartially interpret the laws of the land to the benefit of all.

A critical look at The Judiciary casts doubt on its sovereignty. When we voted President Kibaki in to the Kenyan Presidency in December 2002, the Chief Justice was one Bernard Chunga. He was unceremoniously removed from office under frivolous circumstances. In the recent past, lawyers have made similar noise about the current Chief Justice and nothing has been done. It shows that the removal of Chunga was not made on the gravity of the law.  It was made to allow for the domestication of The Judiciary.

With this done, the Hon Kiraitu Murungi instituted what he called radical surgery at The Judiciary. The Judiciary by Kiraitu and Aaron Ringera was neither radical nor was it a surgery. It was a move to domesticate The Judiciary.  From thence on, The Judiciary will be the theater of the absurd; all rulings friendly will be achieved and it would be used to stifle democracy in Kenya. The Judiciary would also play a crucial role in shielding all cases of corruption against the mighty. In short, a stage was set where all cases of corruption will be handled with kid’s gloves, where the corrupt will face no justice. The Judiciary has largely remained ceremonial.
 
If one is in good books with The Executive, he is assured of immunity in spite of crimes committed. We have Anglo-Leasing suspects, Triton Oil Scandal, scandals at Kenya Airport Authority, procurement scandals and many more.
 
The second part is about the appointment of officers to serve as Judges and Magistrates. Despite attempts by the Law Society of Kenya to have the process opened up, the Chief Justice has maintained a close lid. What secret is the Chief Justice guarding? If The Judiciary wants to help save Kenya from being tall amongst the failed states, it must reclaim its independence and stop bowing to The Executive. It must start obeying the law.

The Legislature has been given a new lease of life by Kenneth Marende, The House Speaker. It is now upon Parliament to remain at the top. By reminding the parliamentarians about the National Accord, he rose to face the challenges of leadership and singularly, saved this country. 
 
Parliament must pass laws that are relevant to the common man, assert itself and fill the void created by the conspiracy to defeat justice.Those who believe in Kenya must rise up and check the excesses of The Executive as well as expose the rot in The Judiciary.
 
As I conclude this long treatise, I must give a quick glance to some of the things you look at to qualify as being amongst the failed state.

The Police: When the police become dysfunctional to an extent that they cannot detect crime, neither arrest nor pursue crime, you are on the right path to being declared a failed state.

Land: When quality land is in the hands of so few at a time when we have Kenyans out in IDP camps, you know that you are on the right track to hell.
 
Housing; when grabbers compete for putting up dingy buildings for human settlement, buildings that defy all building by-laws, you know you are on the right track to self destruction.

Traffic jams: When you sit in your car for 3 hours every morning to cover the 17 Kilometres to town, and especially when this is as a result of some bureaucrat having spent Kshs 700million to put up a pathetic terminus called Muthurwa, you know that things are not adding up.

Power: When you to watch your TV set to watch the 7.00PM news and then power goes off, not to come until the following day, and at the end of the month you are given an inflated bill, you know that you have pirates in government; people who do not mind your well being.

Constitution: Lancaster constitution was negotiated in less than 18 months and in times when we had no advance technology, and now, the political class keeps talking about the need for a new constitutional dispensation, now for the last 22 years, then you must shudder with rage.
 
Odhiambo T Oketch,
Komarock, Nairobi.











      


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