The Impact Of The 17th On Maraga's Legacy

Maraga, undoubtedly, has very interesting times ahead. He has proven that democracy in Africa, or rather Kenya, has come of age. The only thing that can damage his image is the presidential outcome. If Uhuru wins, then the Mkora image will be justified, and cemented. If Raila wins, Maraga will forever be entrenched in the annals of history as THE CJ that restored democracy. He may even get to judge at the ICC after resigning.

An Uhuru win will, however, trigger a series of bills that will tame the judiciary once and for all.

So, if Uhuru wins, I really hope he will not grossly undermine the authority of the Judiciary. That would kill many of the gains we have made as a republic.

However, counting the losses incurred as a result of the ruling I will make a suggestion ( to whoever will clinch it on the 17th, Raila or Uhuru) and fellow villagers can improve, reject, or blindly support…any which way I am testing the type of bill that will appease most Kenyans and not polarize us further.

  1. The supreme court should be able to order for recounts, fresh elections and the likes, just as stipulated in the constitution.

  2. In the case of a fresh election, however, the two houses, Senate and Parliament, should accept the ruling before it is approved. If, however, the two houses do not support the cancellation of the election, the person declared winner should be sworn in.

  3. The president should be chairman of the JSC. (This way sovereign power is truly the people’s. An elected leader heads all the arms of government and by extension, the people do. You may claim this gives the president too much power but…that is kind of the intention. Let the most powerful man in the land be someone the people can vote out when they smell mischief)

(The wisdom of #2 is that a rigged in president would lack the numbers and his or her election would never be confirmed. If the winner has the numbers in the two houses, then his or her election was genuine and there is, therefore, no need to waste money on a fresh election. To justify this, in 2007, fresh elections would have been held as the prezo lacked the numbers in bunge…because he…acha yaliyo ndwele sipite)

The only option maraga and raila have is to make sure there will be no re-election.

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Maraga out, hafiki december

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Guys…guys…guuuuys… I am attempting a big picture scenario sort of thing. The independence the Judiciary displays is truly remarkable. A dream in most republics. I am thinking a long the lines of keeping it independent but still answerable to the people. Ni aibu sana kutoa mamlaka kwa elected leader na kuipeana yote kwa un-elected leaders because at that juncture, power belongs to the Judiciary and not the people.

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there is a difference between an independent judiciary and a judiciary compromised by opposition and evil societies. independence is not just in relation to the government

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True. I think to mitigate the effects of a rogue Judiciary, the President should have a greater say in the appointment. I am thinking along the lines of PORK suggesting a minimum of 8 names to the JSC. The JSC then cuts the number down to three and hands it back to the prezo who picks one out. Kuzuia kichwa mbaya kutoka kwa PORK, the JSC should highlight the best of the three, if the prezo appoints another as CJ, the one highlighted by the JSC gets to be Deputy CJ…By this I mean the tenure of DCJ and CJ should be fused. CJ akienda, DCJ can only be retained after the prezo and JSC agree… this way, the Prezo halazimishiwi CJ na JSC as it is in the current katiba.

Lets celebrate the incoming 1 party state and a return of imperial presidency with this gif

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PalatablePlayfulAlligatorsnappingturtle-size_restricted.gif

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The JSC have been on a activistic role sometime even offering just one person for president to nominate. The greatest democracy which is the US does not even do that. These presidency was striped so much that some checks don’t even work.

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You miss the point. the President will not be imperial, he will just be PRESIDENT. He or she is at the mercy of the voters and judging by the way watu wanavote siku hizi, ni job ama nyumbani. So, an all too powerful president is not a rational fear, he or she can always be voted out. The real fear should be entities that hold IMPERIAL power bila kusubjectiwa to the masses.

My point exactly. In an attempt to decentralize power, we moved it ALL to the Judiciary. Imagine ati Parliament has the power to pass a vote of no confidence on a duly elected president but cannot touch members of the judiciary

That One person can buy the seven judges but the ruling of the said seven is final. Issa problem

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Maraga gives Judgement based on emotions…

per incurium?

Unye should insist the SCOK resignation 1hr after he is sworn in. That’s why we have elections…to vest our sovereign will on our leaders.

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I think it was more of a power-drunk-what-I-say-goes sort of thing. He knows he is not answerable to anyone, not even the people. I am REALLY looking forward to the ruling

I’d rather we have a benevolent dictator - the Singapore way… hii too much democracy ndio inatumaliza

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I have a feeling this guy didn’t have any reasoned support for his ruling, and it’s now that he’s trying to cobble something…schemed from what Kenyans are discussing in all forums.
Expect him to present a judgement informed by his bitterness about the “mkora” tag!

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you are overthinking. The current arrangement is the best there is. Subjecting a court decision to a political process will only divide the country and might give new life to injustice.

The executive has representation in the JSC, that is how it should remain.

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If Maraga’s conviction was that JaKuon really had 8 million votes and Uhuru 6 million, he ought to be asking himself why NASA is doing all in its power to try and avoid a rerun, and demanding that it practically take over the IEBC and run the elections, or sabotage them.

Uhuruto on their part are methodically going through the paces of campaigning, looking forward to the date. The only scary thing is that they might be lying to themselves once again that numbers will be enough, while we now know that policing every polling station and guarding the resulting documents is priority no. 1.

How can a CJ be removed?

(1) A judge of a superior court may be removed from office only on the grounds of–

(a) inability to perform the functions of office arising from mental or physical incapacity;
(b) a breach of a code of conduct prescribed for judges of the superior courts by an Act of Parliament;
(c) bankruptcy;
(d) incompetence; or
(e) gross misconduct or misbehaviour.

B The removal of a judge may be initiated only by the Judicial Service Commission acting on its own motion, or on the petition of any person to the Judicial Service Commission.[/B]
(3) A petition by a person to the Judicial Service Commission under clause (2) shall be in writing, setting out the alleged facts constituting the grounds for the judges removal.
B The Judicial Service Commission shall consider the petition and, if it is satisfied that the petition discloses a ground for removal under clause (1), send the petition to the President.[/B]
(5) The President shall, within fourteen days after receiving the petition, suspend the judge from office and, acting in accordance with the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission–

B in the case of the Chief Justice, appoint a tribunal consisting of–

(i) the Speaker of the National Assembly, as chairperson;
(ii) three superior court judges from common-law jurisdictions;
(iii) one advocate of fifteen years standing; and
(iv) two other persons with experience in public affairs; or[/B]

(b) in the case of a judge other than the Chief Justice, appoint a tribunal consisting of–

(i) a chairperson and three other members from among persons who hold or have held office as a judge of a superior court, or who are qualified to be appointed as such but who, in either case, have not been members of the Judicial Service Commission at any time within the immediately preceding three years;
(ii) one advocate of fifteen years standing; and
(iii) two other persons with experience in public affairs.

http://www.klrc.go.ke/index.php/constitution-of-kenya/135-chapter-ten-judiciary/part-2-superior-courts/337-168-removal-from-office

Well said. Tumefika mahali we need to seriously consider the impact of lobbyist agendas in the constitution.

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