Kenya’s Chief Justice David Maraga on Thursday dismissed claims by the minister for internal security that some judges in the country were favouring the opposition.
“I am not aware of any part of the Judiciary that has been captured by the opposition, or the media,” he said.
While appearing before a parliamentary committee on security earlier this week, Minister Fred Matiang’i said some judicial officers were in a competition to embarrass the government and stop state officers from performing their roles.
“It is an evil clique of judicial officers who want to drag us by the collar through the streets of public opinion,” Matiang’I said, adding that the government, in the Miguna Miguna case, was condemned unheard.
“It is not true that any judges have been captured by the opposition, as it is being said,” Justice Maraga told journalists in Nairobi Thursday morning.
“It is the orders they are issuing in their normal course of business. They could make mistakes in those orders. And we are saying, if they make mistakes, let there be an appeal. And when it is filed, wait for the matter to be dealt with. That is why I do not want to comment on the minister’s comments. Let the Court of Appeal deal with that,” he added.
Last week, a High Court judge fined Matiang’i $2000 USD, alongside Inspector-General Joseph Boinnet and Immigration Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa, for failing to adhere to court orders in relation to the Miguna saga.
Miguna, who last week, returned to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from Canada having been deported in early February, was not allowed into the country. He was detained within the airport before being deported again to Dubai.
Maraga reiterated that the Judiciary is ruled by the evidence presented before it.
“The courts deal with these matters as they come. The evidence presented before them, and they deal with those matters as they come,” he said.
