Maraga leaves with head held high
Chief Justice David Maraga during the launch of Kahawa law courts at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison on December 11, 2020.
What you need to know:
- The seventh Day Adventist will be recalled as a man who fearlessly defended the Constitution.
- He nullified the 2017 presidential election over massive illegalities and irregularities.
Last week, Chief Justice Justice David Maraga proceeded on his terminal leave awaiting his retirement early next year.
What a man Kenya had as a Chief Justice. What an honest being God gave us. What more could we have asked from this man.
Justice Maraga will retire as a man of many firsts. The brave lion from Nyamira was never afraid of taking the bull by its horns.
The seventh Day Adventist will be recalled as a man who fearlessly defended the Constitution. At a time when it was unprecedented for an opposition party to challenge a presidential election in Africa because of the fear instilled in our courts, Maraga would have none of it. He nullified the 2017 presidential election over massive illegalities and irregularities.
Two-thirds gender rule
What else could we ask for as a country from a man who believed in the rule of law and who reminded us about our fidelity to the Constitution?
This is a man who showed us the way on justice and never blinked when it came to his religious beliefs.
He taught us to take a firm stand no matter what is mounted ahead of us. He reminded us that he could not substitute his religion for anything, including presiding over a case.
He told the interviewing panel that he would never preside over a case on a Saturday, a day of rest and worship as a Seventh Day Adventist. In him we learn about a man who was always happy with the little he had and never took a bribe.
Sadly, the same cannot be said of our MPs. If they aren’t whining in committees, shedding crocodile tears in Parliament.
Having failed to enact the two-thirds gender rule, Maraga advised President Kenyatta to dissolve Parliament. Even though the President did not, the CJ would rest assured that he played his part.
As he retires, we shall always thank God for according us an opportunity to be served by such a man. He swore to protect the Constitution and during his time, he always believed in the rule of law.
