Judges Have Earned Themselves Permanent Place of Shame, DP William Ruto Says
By Moses Nyamori and Kamau Maichuhie
Kenya Standard
September 3rd 2017 at 21:55 GMT
Deputy President William Ruto has termed the ruling that annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election a coup against the will of the electorate.
Mr Ruto attacked the four Supreme Court judges who invalidated the presidential election as Jubilee sustained its assault on the Judiciary ALSO READ: Uhuru vows to ‘fix’ court after poll "The judges orchestrated and executed a coup against the will of over 15 million Kenyans.
By passing a verdict that overturned the will of the people, the judges have just earned themselves a permanent place of shame in the history of the country.
"It is not acceptable to the Kenyan people that three men and one woman sat and decided to overturn their will," Ruto said.
The Deputy President, who spoke on Sunday in Thika after attending a service at the ACK church, added: "We do not need connections and networks in the courts to win an election because it is the people who elect."
He charged that it was unjust for the court to overturn the outcome since there was no dispute against the total number of votes the President garnered. The dispute, he said, was on the transmission of the results.
The Jubilee Party has attacked the Supreme Court since it declared the presidential election null and void due to illegalities committed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the August 8 polls.
The assaults by the ruling party have surprised many since the President and Ruto were at the forefront of asking the parties involved in the case to accept the decision made by the country's highest court. Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki yesterday faulted the Kenya Magistrate and Judges Association (KMJA) for seeking to gag Jubilee politicians from criticising the court's verdict.
KMJA on Saturday condemned the attacks on Chief Justice David Maraga and his Supreme Court colleagues.
"Do not try to cow us into silence. You have not seen anything yet. The criticism will continue since even if we have said we will respect the decision of the court, we do not agree with it," said Prof Kindiki.
Wrong reasoning Kindiki said Jubilee leaders in their criticism of the Supreme Court verdict were not attacking the communities from which the judges come but individual judges.
"We are not attacking the communities but individuals who erred in their ruling. All you are seeing is an attack on wrong reasoning of individuals and not communities," he said.
He added: "At the least minimum, we expected that the court would have ordered a recount of the presidential votes. The votes are still there and we are wondering why the court could not order a recount if the transmission is the one which had a problem."
And Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria said: "After we are done with the repeat-elections we will definitely have to bite the bullet and in that respect will spearhead amendments to the Constitution to ensure that for the Supreme Court to in future overturn presidential results, all the seven judges must have a unanimous decision."
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001253487/judges-have-earned-themselves-permanent-place-of-shame-dp-ruto-says
Kenya Standard
September 3rd 2017 at 21:55 GMT
Deputy President William Ruto has termed the ruling that annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election a coup against the will of the electorate.
Mr Ruto attacked the four Supreme Court judges who invalidated the presidential election as Jubilee sustained its assault on the Judiciary ALSO READ: Uhuru vows to ‘fix’ court after poll "The judges orchestrated and executed a coup against the will of over 15 million Kenyans.
By passing a verdict that overturned the will of the people, the judges have just earned themselves a permanent place of shame in the history of the country.
"It is not acceptable to the Kenyan people that three men and one woman sat and decided to overturn their will," Ruto said.
The Deputy President, who spoke on Sunday in Thika after attending a service at the ACK church, added: "We do not need connections and networks in the courts to win an election because it is the people who elect."
He charged that it was unjust for the court to overturn the outcome since there was no dispute against the total number of votes the President garnered. The dispute, he said, was on the transmission of the results.
The Jubilee Party has attacked the Supreme Court since it declared the presidential election null and void due to illegalities committed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the August 8 polls.
The assaults by the ruling party have surprised many since the President and Ruto were at the forefront of asking the parties involved in the case to accept the decision made by the country's highest court. Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki yesterday faulted the Kenya Magistrate and Judges Association (KMJA) for seeking to gag Jubilee politicians from criticising the court's verdict.
KMJA on Saturday condemned the attacks on Chief Justice David Maraga and his Supreme Court colleagues.
"Do not try to cow us into silence. You have not seen anything yet. The criticism will continue since even if we have said we will respect the decision of the court, we do not agree with it," said Prof Kindiki.
Wrong reasoning Kindiki said Jubilee leaders in their criticism of the Supreme Court verdict were not attacking the communities from which the judges come but individual judges.
"We are not attacking the communities but individuals who erred in their ruling. All you are seeing is an attack on wrong reasoning of individuals and not communities," he said.
He added: "At the least minimum, we expected that the court would have ordered a recount of the presidential votes. The votes are still there and we are wondering why the court could not order a recount if the transmission is the one which had a problem."
And Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria said: "After we are done with the repeat-elections we will definitely have to bite the bullet and in that respect will spearhead amendments to the Constitution to ensure that for the Supreme Court to in future overturn presidential results, all the seven judges must have a unanimous decision."
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001253487/judges-have-earned-themselves-permanent-place-of-shame-dp-ruto-says
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