Raila to CJ Koome: Give details of Ruto meeting
Opposition leader Raila Odinga flanked by senators Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi) and Godfrey Osotsi (Vihiga) at a press briefing at Capitol Hill, Nairobi on February 2, 2024.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga has asked Chief Justice (CJ) Martha Koome to set the record straight on the agreements made during a controversial meeting with President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi nearly two weeks ago.
According to Mr Odinga, the deal to appoint five new judges of the High Court and 11 Court of Appeal judges was a ploy to have "friendly judges to the Executive.
Mr Odinga claimed two former electoral agency officials were on their way to the Court of Appeal as part of the agreements in the meeting that Mr Odinga had opposed as akin to the Judiciary surrendering its independence.
The opposition leader questioned the urgency of the meeting, even after raising the alarm over the Judiciary's call for a meeting with the Executive.
“At the meeting the CJ and Dr Ruto reached an agreement that will supposedly allow him (Ruto) to provide additional funding to the Judiciary. In return, CJ Koome is to advertise vacancies for five additional High Court Judges and 11 Court of Appeal judges. This is in addition to the 20 high court judges advertised last year,” Mr Odinga said.
Accordingly, Mr Odinga claimed that the five High Court judges and two Court of Appeal judges will be fronted by the President and forwarded to the Judicial Service Commission, among them being two former elections agency officials who will be appointed as appellate court judges.
“After filling the Executive with people of questionable integrity and capacity and who will remain eternally grateful to him, Dr Ruto is looking to set up a user-friendly Judiciary, full of people with questionable past and limited capacity,” Mr Odinga said in the statement.
“The administration believes it has completely captured the Supreme Court and now wants to target the problematic lower courts by staffing them with loyalists,” he claimed.
He said that the country will witness the outcome of the State House meeting by next week, when JSC will advertise vacancies.
The President and the CJ have been challenged by the opposition leader to come out and state the facts of their meeting.
“The capture of the Judiciary of all institutions is the beginning of a steady descent into anarchy. It is the beginning of the embrace of the law of the jungle instead of the rule of law. Impunity and capture of independent institutions by a corrupt Executive is what drove Kenya to war in 2007-2008," he said.
On the agreement between Ruto and Koome that will see the Judiciary getting more funds, Mr Odinga rubbished it as a cover-up to blackmail the public since Article 173 of the Constitution of Kenya established the Judiciary Fund which is administered by the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary.
He said: “The presidency cannot allocate any money to the Judiciary. Madam Koome knows this, and yet has willingly proceeded to associate herself with and endorse an illegality. Why CJ Koome sought money from State House and not from Parliament, only she can explain, but it spells doom.”
However, Mr Odinga’s allegations have been termed as political propaganda by an official from JSC.
The official said that nothing from what Mr Odinga addressed was part of the discussion since the appointment of the additional 40 judges was a matter that had been addressed last year by National Assembly Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.
