Raila condemns Martha Koome’s visit to the statehouse, and CJ has not been seen since she went to bed with the executive.
Raila Odinga has expressed his perspectives on the most recent action taken by Chief Justice Martha Koome, which was to convene a meeting with President William Ruto at the presidential residence.
Raila said, when speaking in Lamu county, that if the two were required to meet to resolve the current feud between the Executive and the Judiciary, then such a meeting ought to have taken place at a location that was seen as neutral.
“The official residence of the Executive Branch is the State House. That is the actual residence of the President. It is important that any discussion on problems of governance take place in a neutral setting if it is going to take place at all,” he said.
Raila believes that such a step is indicative of a possible danger to the independence of the judiciary.
Additionally, such a meeting demonstrates that the judiciary is being compromised, and that the Chief Justice is going to bed with the government, which is something that has the potential to create turmoil in this nation.
“As we have seen in the past, the Executive Branch is now holding the Judiciary in a state of hostageship.
“During the time when Mr. Moi was in charge, we saw this happening, and we have made an effort to warn the present Chief Justice not to meet with the Executive.
On January 15th, Chief Justice Martha Koome said that the commission had reached out to President Ruto for a meeting to address any problems they had with the judicial branch.
This comes after the panel had contacted President Ruto.
Despite this, Raila Odinga, the head of the opposition, has described the decision as sad and expressed the hope that the other members of the Judiciary would not be compromised.
On social media, Kenyans have expressed their disapproval of the plan, stating that the Chief Justice ought to be tough and should not be coerced to enable the executive branch to have their way without their input. This move has also sparked emotions among Kenyans.
For the time being, however, the meeting is being held at the Statehouse, and after it is completed, further information on the outcomes of the meeting will be made available to the general public.