Seek a lesson on rule of law Down South
Former South African president Jacob Zuma sits in the dock of the High Court of Pietermaritzburg.
What you need to know:
- Jurists have hailed South Africa’s acts as the epitome of legal accountability and puritanism.
- South Africa has taught the vigilant you that it is penal to trample on the law.
South Africa is, arguably, Africa’s country of many democratic firsts. A country whose ruling party, ANC, forced President Jacob Zuma to resign in the eve of an impeachment vote against him on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution. A country whose Constitutional Court jailed Zuma for contempt of court, a minor legal wrong.
A country whose court ordered the police to investigate allegations of torture in Zimbabwe against Zimbabweans in 2014, a win for universal jurisdiction. A country whose court found then-President Zuma guilty of misusing state funds to refurbish his private home.
Jurists have hailed South Africa’s acts as the epitome of legal accountability and puritanism.
Kenya should heed the signal from Down South that all are equal and accountable before the law.
We all must guard against grievous harm to the Constitution and targeted insidious corrosion of constitutionalism. Such a demonstrable level of accountability is a rare act.
Passing the baton
The Judiciary keeps on passing the baton to the watchpersons of the rule of law but we intently drop it. Take, for instance, the Ruaraka Land Scandal, in which the government paid Sh1.5 billion for its own land. The government machinery, with the power of the purse and technical competence, unbelievably bought its own land! The persons who rendered the illegal legal advisory have not been brought to book.
Another emotive case study is the nullified 2017 presidential election on grounds of manifest non-compliance with the Constitution and statutory election laws. Consequently, the taxpayer had to cough a whopping Sh12 billion to conduct repeat elections. There has been no known investigations into that election.
South Africa has taught the vigilant you that it is penal to trample on the law. Until we make defiling the rule of law very punitive, ours continues be a Constitution without constitutionalism. Our greatness as a nation will never be if our fidelity to the rule of law remains at the ICU.
Mr Kipkorir is a legal researcher at Nation Media Group. [email protected]
