(KDRTV) – Outgoing Chief Justice David Maraga has said that President Uhuru Kenyatta should be impeached for failing to appoint 41 judges.
The Judicial Service Commission forwarded the names of 41 Judges who were to serve in different jurisdictions in the Court of Appeal, Environment and Lands Court, and the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
However, President Uhuru Kenyatta declined to swear-in the judges claiming that some of them had questionable characters. He said he had intel from the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Maraga maintained that the president has no mandate to reject some of the nominees.
Furthermore, the CJ questioned Uhuru’s motive, saying some of the nominees are already serving judges.
Maraga now wants Parliament to impeach Uhuru for violating the constitution he swore to protect.
“The President has a constitutional duty to appoint judges but he has not done so because there are issues which have not been revealed…as far as I am concerned, the President has violated his constitutional duty. If it was in other countries, he would be impeached,” the CJ said in an interview with Citizen TV’s Joe Ageyo.
David Maraga: Kenyans should direct their questions to Parliament- Why have they let the President flout the constitution? #Tonight@YvonneOkwara pic.twitter.com/Wt656v7rK1
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) January 14, 2021
He further claimed that his confrontations with the executive could have emanated over the nullification of the 2017 elections.
He pointed out that the Judiciary budget was cut after the landmark ruling.
The CJ, who officially retired this week after attaining the age of 70, asked his successor to ensure everyone respects the law.
“Disobedience of court orders is a threat to the rule of law…My successor must ensure court orders are obeyed. The successor must ensure the Judiciary is adequately funded,” he said.
