Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has warned politicians and individuals involved in organised political violence and crimes that their days are numbered.
Dr Mutunga said the establishment of the International and Organised Crimes Division (IOCD) by the Judiciary and other partners was the solution to the violence witnessed during each electioneering period and the emergence of organised gangs.
"The IOCD is a Kenyan solution to a local problem. Over many years, we have Kenyans who, through organised political violence and organised crime, have undermined our society. A perfect word has been used to describe these people – 'termites'," he said.
He said efforts to hold the politicians and individuals engaged in the violence accountable have not been successful partly because the judicial efforts to try cases involving the 'termites' have not been well co-ordinated.
"The IOCD promises to borrow smart and best practices from the world over to try these cases. In a real sense, this is implementing the Constitutional imperative: to domesticate international law in ways that are useful in terms of substantive law," said the CJ.
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He was speaking during the official opening of a two-day symposium on 'Ending Impunity Together' at Riara University sponsored by Wayamo Foundation. Attorney General Githu Muigai and Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro were also present.
"In this fight, it is often easy to forget that terrorism must be fought in the scheme of the rule of law, otherwise we will all be playing on the same side as the terrorists," said Mutunga.
He said as part of resolving the country's long-standing and intractable national problems, the Constitution explicitly imports international law as part of the laws of Kenya.
Social justice
Mutunga said the true hinge of the transformative Constitution to social transformation lies in the jurisprudence and judicial practice that the courts generate in their everyday work.
"This theory of interpreting the 2010 Constitution has given birth to the decolonising jurisprudence of social justice. We are committed to developing new highly competent and indigenous jurisprudence," he said.
He added that the work of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission was still on course and the suspension of some commissioners would not affect its operations.
