SUPREME COURT JUDGES SHOULD QUIT EN- MASSE.

By ODEROH Kenn

When Kenyans were clamoring for a new constitution, one of the central issues of concern was the state of the judiciary. For many years, the Kenyan Judiciary worked at the best of the Executive and took orders from the president and his subordinates on how to rule on the matters that government expressed as interesting.

The Kenyan Judiciary had become one of the most corrupt institutions in Kenya and it was openly mocked by the general public who asked why one needed to hire a lawyer when they could buy a judge.

One of the solutions adopted by the Kenyans in the 2010 constitution was the creation of a supreme court, with the intention of being constituted from the top most jurists in the Republic, who would ensure that they gave the country a legal environment which sub-services to the Executive and corruption could not exist.
But from the very onset, the Kenyans Supreme Court suffered a credibility crisis arising from its composition because there was a widely-held belief at that point in time that some of the judges proposed to it missed the mark of a classical Supreme Court Judge. Without necessarily mentioning names, the widespread expectation of Kenyans was to see our top Jurists appointed to the Supreme Court as opposed to some of the appointed Judges whose very track record is littered with mediocrity in performance.

Most of the rulings which have so far emanated from the Supreme Court have been legally deficient and wanting in technical substance. Kenyans expected very well-thought-out and widely researched rulings from the Supreme Court, which has not been the case. A case in point is the Presidential Election Petition Ruling of 2013 where Kenyans expected a classical and authoritative ruling that could act as a point of reference fir African election disputes, as opposed to the three- minute ruling that was delivered by the Kenyan Supreme Court. Even the detailed ruling that was later released was reminiscent of a term-paper compiled or perhaps dubbed by a Law student at the Parklands Campus of the University of Nairobi.

Next were numerous Election Petitions for other positions, especially those involving Governors that ended up at the Supreme Court. There has been widespread speculations and allegations that the Supreme Court judges were bribed to rule in favor of the Governors. Whereas it is not for me to determine the veracity or otherwise of these allegations, my position remains that in a civilized society, once you hold such a position of a judge, then your credibility must be beyond reproach. If at any slight instance your acts of omission or commission are deemed to be inconsistent with Chapter 6 of the constitution, the very constitution that you swore to and vowed to protect, then the most logical thing to do is to pave way for other Kenyans of commensurate, if not better invaluable experience, competence and moral standing to come in and exercise the functional mandate of the highest court on our land.

By and large, Kenyans have not felt the impact of the Supreme Court by way of its ruling. There is no landmark ruling that has emanated from this court, be it politically, economically or socially. The current Supreme Court judges have therefore become irrelevant but also unwanted by their subjects. Most Kenyans now view this institution as a place where Justice is on sale to the highest bidder.
Kenya is not short of legal brains. Something must just be done.