Friday, March 23, 2012

CJ Mutunga welcomes Raila's word on Judiciary



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Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has said he is satisfied with Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s clarification that he never intended to disrespect the Judiciary March 22, 2012. FILE
Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has said he is satisfied with Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s clarification that he never intended to disrespect the Judiciary March 22, 2012. FILE 
By PETER MWAI pmwai@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, March 23  2012 at  10:12
Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has said he is satisfied with Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s clarification that he never intended to disrespect the Judiciary.
Dr Mutunga acknowledged receiving a letter from Mr Odinga explaining his position and said he was content with it.
He, however, warned that he will not tolerate those who cast aspersions on the the Judiciary.
“He (Mr Odinga) said he is committed to democracy and he was criticising the ruling not the courts. And I’m happy with that. You can criticise rulings any time. If the ruling is unjust, you can say so. There is nothing wrong with criticising the ruling,” he said during the launch of The Judiciary Watch Report by the International Commission of Jurists on Thursday evening at the Serena Hotel, Nairobi.
“But you can’t criticise the institution. Once you bring the entire institution into disrepute that is what I was saying it’s not a good thing. Because if you say it is ‘korti bandia’ (kangaroo court), you are saying it is the entire Judiciary.”
Dr Mutunga said if one was to pick a ruling and express reasons as to why he doesn’t feel it is fair, that is acceptable.
“That is your freedom of expression and we must allow that."
Law Society of Kenya chairman Eric Mutua, who attended the launch, warned politicians against inciting Kenyans to disregard constitutional institutions.
“We should be preparing for the elections not fighting over the date. Those opposing the date are not ready to accept the ruling of the courts,” he said.
“When we start belittling the court, especially from politicians, the danger is that citizens will believe our courts don’t function, that they are compromised and useless and that will breed anarchy.”
Dr Mutunga’s remarks came hours after Mr Odinga sent a letter assuring him of his “personal belief in an independent Judiciary” and his commitment to uphold and protect the Constitution.
“Reference is made to remarks attributed to me respecting the decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the date of the general election. The said remarks have raised some controversy and I am informed caused you considerable disquiet,” Mr Odinga said in the letter.
He said his intention was to convey disagreement with the ruling and his frustration on the election date saying it had remained unresolved despite the issue being referred to the Constitutional Court.
“It now appears to me that my choice of syntax was imperfect and the word I chose to mean "unhelpful" has been variously interpreted to convey a derogatory meaning,” he said.
The CJ had expressed reservations towards statements made by the PM last weekend while opposing the decision by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to set March 4, 2013 as the date for the General Election.
Mr Odinga appeared to attack the Judiciary whose ruling the IEBC relied on to set the date after what its chairman Isaack Hassan said were indications that Mr Odinga and President Kibaki couldn’t reach an agreement on when to dissolve the Coalition Government. 
This was one of the two options the courts said could trigger elections.
“Such unprovoked utterances are as unfortunate as they are unacceptable. They reek of executive impunity and have no place in a properly functioning democracy,” Justice Mutunga had said.

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