Kenya is in danger of drowning its democracy if President Uhuru Kenyatta will not stop undermining independent institutions and taking control of the rule of law.
This was seen in his speech during the Madaraka Day fete that was held on Tuesday, June 1, at the Jomo Kenyatta sports ground in Kisumu where the head of the state lectured the Judiciary.
Uhuru appeared dissatisfied with the court’s decision which overturned the 2017 presidential election as well as the recent quashing of the BBI bill.
“From nullification of a presidential election in 2017 to an attempt to stop the will of the people as expressed through BBI, the Judiciary has tested our constitutional limits, but not broken them,” Uhuru said.
“We must follow the Rule of Law and obey the decisions of the courts but the sovereign and supreme voice of the People of Kenya must also be followed. And that is why our National Conversation today must focus on the Burden of Choice,” he went on.
Critics say if President Uhuru Kenyatta succeeds in crippling the judiciary as threatened in his Madaraka Day speech, then he will have succeeded in bringing Kenya back to a dictatorial era.
Analysts say the actions by President Uhuru Kenyatta to intimidate the judiciary, ignore court decisions, wipe out the opposition, intrude on the National Assembly and the Senate, cripple the media and crack down on public corporations are all aimed at killing the country’s democracy.
Legal experts have strongly criticized Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to issue threats to judges, saying he has no legal right to lecture the court on how they do their work.
According to Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua, it is ironic for the President to start complaining about court decisions and how they affect the country’s economy.
“Threats against independent institutions are to bring us back into the one-party era. Kenyans must stand firm in defending the constitution and all the success we have achieved as a result of the patriotic efforts they committed to life to get a new constitution,” Karua said in her latest media interview.
Proponents of President Uhuru Kenyatta, however, have strongly defended President Uhuru’s move to scrutinize the Independent institutions.
