Memories of dark days as lawyers fight Ruto's attacks on Judiciary

In a press briefing at the Supreme Court where the protest began and ended, LSK President Eric Theuri said they would "go to any lengths" to defend the rule of law, announcing the protest as the first in a series to defend the Constitution.

"The Constitution demands to be respected. We are aware the president has issued threats and has said 'mambo ni matatu'. We want to assure him that we are prepared to take all those options in defence of our Constitution," said Theuri, referencing Ruto's remarks that he would ignore unfavourable court orders by "corrupt judges""We know what happened in the years of dictatorship. The LSK will never allow the country to go back to the days when democracy was just a catchphrase," Theuri said.

The National Assembly has said it will carry out public participation over the Housing Bill despite court orders barring the same, a move LSK said it will challenge in court.

"The Constitution is the bedrock upon which we stand and we shall not allow anyone to erode rights we have fought so hard to earn," said LSK vice president Faith Odhiambo, who is seeking to replace Theuri in elections slated for next month.

A High Court petition to have the president declared to have violated the Constitution over his promise to ignore some court orders is also on the LSK's cards, as the outgoing president would announce.

Such a declaration would be a ground for an impeachment motion against Ruto in Parliament, which would essentially prolong the president's one-sided fight against the Judiciary for overturning some of his government's controversial policies.

Among them is the housing tax, which stakeholders opposed during public participation on the Finance Act 2023. In November, the High Court declared sections of the law, such as the housing tax, unconstitutional.

A series of later defeats have seen the Head of State recently wage a smear campaign against the Judiciary and public interest litigants, who he accuses of corruptly colluding to sabotage his agenda.

he Law Society of Kenya led lawyers in a peaceful procession against the recent remarks on the Judiciary by President Ruto at the Supreme Court of Kenya, Nairobi on January 12, 2023. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Ruto has not tabled any evidence to support his claims lawyers had been bribing judges to extract favourable judgements at the expense of government programmes. And he has been accused of seeking to entrench dictatorship and have the nation regress to "an imperial presidency".

"Kenyans have made the decision not to be ruled by the sword, intimidation or threats, but by the rule of law. The president did not come into office by fiat or armed resistance but through the Supreme Court," said lawyer Caroline Khasoa.

The president finds himself where his predecessors have been, at loggerheads with the Judiciary, an arm of government many describe as the public's last line of defence against a dictatorial rule. Critics have accused Ruto of walking the same path as former President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose Jubilee administration ignored court orders for fun. Like Ruto, Uhuru also openly clashed with the Judiciary and did not see eye to eye with former Chief Justice David Maraga.

On many occasions, Ruto's predecessor would slam the Judiciary for its decisions. Such attacks became prevalent after the Supreme Court nullified his re-election in 2017. It was after his ruling that Uhuru promised to "revisit" the Judiciary.

Uhuru's revisiting came in the form of denying requests for increased resources, including budgetary allocations. Things came to a boiling point when Uhuru refused to appoint some judges even after they had gone through the selection process.

At the start of his presidency, it seemed Ruto would have cordial relations with the Judiciary, hailing it as a true defender of constitutionalism when it upheld his win in 2022 presidential election petition.

He would also praise the Chief Justice Martha Koome-led arm of government when it dealt a deathblow to the Building Bridges Initiative constitutional amendment push.

Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who briefly joined the protest, warned that Kenya risked sliding back to this dark past if the attacks on the Judiciary are allowed to persist.

"If Kenya gets it wrong, we will allow a situation where judges will be intimidated into issuing orders that favour the Executive. Then we have lost it," said Kalonzo.

In many ways, Ruto's assault comes off as a revisiting of sorts, given his lamentations stem from the adverse judgments his policies have suffered.

He says that he plans to weed out corruption within the Judiciary, a process that would mirror the radical surgery of the Judiciary during the late former President Mwai Kibaki's tenure, in which several judges were dismissed over corruption.

Stakeholders have faulted such a move, arguing for the constitutionally-stipulated process of removing corrupt judges, which dictates a petition against the respective judge to the Judicial Service Commission.

Investigative agencies

"He is the president, with access to investigative agencies and should not be making blanket allegations like a layperson. His job is to work as the Constitution instructs," said city lawyer Bernhard Ng'etich.

Former Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, who also took part in the demos, had similar views, saying; "Dr William Ruto should stop his unwarranted attacks on the Judiciary. If he has any evidence against any judicial officers, he should follow the laid down procedures."

The presence of senior lawyers, some of whom who were part of the struggle for pluralism, evoked memories of the dark days with Ruto being asked to listen to reason.

"As Africans, we know a stool has three legs. If the president breaks down the leg of the Judiciary, he has already broken down the leg of Parliament, then he will not be able to sit on that stool and govern the country under the Constitution," said former Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana.

But unlike the brutality meted on civil society protests in yesteryears, the LSK demo, themed Constitutional Safeguards are Necessary, was peaceful, with the police escorting them as they sang patriotic and anti-Ruto chants.

No tear gas canister was hurled as they sang "Yote yawezekana bila Ruto", "Ruto must go", "Bado mapambano" or when they chanted "Down with dictatorship". But accusations of brutality featured in Ruto's handling of opposition protesters during last year's anti-government demos.