CJ Koome stands firm, defends Judiciary against claims of capture by Executive

Chief Justice Martha Koome has defended the Judiciary against graft accusations by the Executive.  

The CJ affirmed that the Judiciary is independent in the execution of its mandate of justice; this following following a series of sustained attacks by the Executive on the Judiciary, where President William Ruto accused unnamed judges of corruption. 

The Chief Justice called on heads of mission and development partners to support the Judiciary by being ambassadors in calls to enhance respect for the Judiciary.

“Today we meet at a time when the whole country has been talking about judicial independence and of course, the discussion has not been pleasant because the Judiciary has been accused of being corrupt and we accept we are part of the society because you cannot talk about corruption in the Judiciary alone,” CJ Koome said.

The strain between the Executive and Judiciary stemmed from claims by the Executive that some judicial officers are being bribed to issue orders against government projects. 

“Who is bringing corruption to the judiciary? Why are we allowing our people to be so vulnerable to feel like they must give a bribe for their case to proceed? Who is this asking for a bribe? Why do we have a mechanism of investigating, of prosecuting and we are not prosecuting these cases of corruption? We are ready as a Judiciary to open ourselves for this introspection and to see who is failing in their duty and who is taking bribes,” she noted.

The Chief Justice emphasized the Judiciary's commitment to defend the constitutional idea of an independent Judiciary, adding that only an independent Judiciary can safeguard the rule of law and ensure state stability.

“I want to take this opportunity to reassure our partners and Kenyans that we the Judiciary will remain independent, we will live up to the ideals of decisional autonomy as protected in the Constitution,” she said.

The CJ's assertion on the independence of the Judiciary comes against the backdrop of her meeting with President Ruto which sparked debate, with legal practitioners and the opposition questioning the motive.

“Even when we open up ourselves to dialogue, one thing we will not open ourselves to is our decision-making independence. We will never discuss the merit of a case that will be determined by the judge based on evidence, the law, and their own understanding of whatever has been presented to the court…and if the decision turns out to be erroneous and not acceptable to any party they should appeal to the Court of Appeal,” Koome said.

She said the Judiciary is committed to rooting out the scourge of corruption that has been a hindrance to the country's development and has invited the EACC to conduct a systems audit of its operations.

To reduce soliciting of bribes, the Judiciary has enhanced automation of processes to reduce human interventions in registry processes by on-boarding courts countrywide to the e-filing system by March 2024.

“I urge heads of mission and development partners to be our ambassadors by advocating for the respect of institutional independence,” she said.

The Chief Justice called for the support of development partners and heads of mission to protect the Judiciary from institutional collapse and loss of public trust. 

On the upsurge in gender-based violence, the CJ said the Judiciary is responding to the femicide cases by rolling out trauma-informed SGBV and children's courts across the country.