You should be humble, Tuju tells judges after BBI ruling

Judges should be humble and realise that they depend on other arms of government like the police, even as they exercise their authority in court, Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju has said.

His sentiments came following last week’s judgment by the High Court, which declared the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) illegal, null and void.

Speaking on Monday during an interview on NTV, Mr Tuju reminded the judges that they depend on the same government that he claimed they were fighting and frustrating.

“Judges should learn the word ‘interdependence’ because as soon as they finish a ruling, they need policemen to escort them home as guards or drivers. The world is much more complicated. We are a little more humble than the judges who say this is what is, period! If you don’t like it, period!”

His sentiments came a few days after a five-judge bench declared the BBI unconstitutional.

Respect President

Mr Tuju also called out the judges for allegedly not respecting the President, saying that the “High Court judges were not courteous to the President by referring to him as ‘Mr’”, and also limiting his powers in his role as a symbol of national unity.

“I would call it selective reading of the Constitution. In Article 10 of the Constitution, the President has the responsibility for national unity,” said Mr Tuju.

Justices Teresia Matheka, Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, and Chacha Mwita, in a landmark judgment on Thursday last week, ruled that the BBI was unconstitutional and that President Uhuru Kenyatta failed to respect, uphold and safeguard the Constitution by initiating a referendum.

Listening to legal advice

Mr Tuju stated that President Kenyatta is listening to legal advice from his team before speaking. This was after he was asked why the Head of State had not spoken, considering he was the main proponent of the BBI.

“The President is the president of the whole country. It is wise that he listens to his legal advisers before he talks about this. When it comes to the court, we have to navigate very carefully,” said the Jubilee Party boss.

Responding to Mr Tuju’s sentiments, Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi warned him, saying that Kenya is not the Uganda of the 1970s.

“Judges volunteer to serve in an arm of government. Their security is not a privilege, but a right. This is not the Uganda of the 1970s,” Mr Havi said.

Legal blunders

In the hard-hitting ruling on the BBI, the High Court judges singled out multiple legal blunders that President Kenyatta committed in his desire for law reforms.

They said the President made a fatal legal mistake in attempting to change the Constitution through a popular initiative, an avenue that is not available to him.

“The President cannot be an initiator of, and an umpire in, amendment of the Constitution,” ruled the judges.

They also ruled that the BBI constitutional committee, created by the President, was illegal, adding that Mr Kenyatta had failed the leadership and integrity test.

The judgment was arguably the most significant ruling by Kenyan courts since Mr Kenyatta's election win was nullified by the Supreme Court in 2017.

Truce

President Kenyatta and his political nemesis-turned-ally, Raila Odinga, unveiled the initiative after a truce following the contentious August 2017 presidential election, which saw violent clashes erupt around the country.

And following the Thursday ruling, Mr Odinga expressed his disappointment with the judgment of the High Court, which declared the entire BBI process illegal, but warned politicians against personalised attacks against the court.

The former Prime Minister likened the judgment to moments of danger and peril that have characterised Kenya’s struggle for constitutional reforms.

“I urge that we refrain from personalised attacks on the court and its members. We may disagree with the court but we must respect its ruling and its freedom to exercise its judgment as it understands the legal and constitutional matters before it,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

The BBI debate has dominated Kenya's politics for the past two years and is closely linked to the battle to succeed Mr Kenyatta, who is due to retire next year.