President Uhuru Kenyatta today said the judiciary is not immune to the temptations of corruption and its officers must guard against criminals out to exploit court processes to escape the consequences of their economic crimes.
President Kenyatta said brokerage of justice has left many Kenyans broken and suffering and their businesses, health and lives destroyed through impunity.
He said there are known culprits who exploit the court processes and judgements to escape from the consequences of their economic crimes against the people of Kenya.
“Corruption is continuing its vicious attack on our people and our nation. The Judiciary is not immune to its illicit lures, and its intimidation,” said President Kenyatta who was accompanied by Deputy President William Ruto, and the two speakers of the National Assembly and Senate, Justin Muturi and Ken Lusaka respectively.
The President spoke at the Supreme Court grounds, Nairobi where he witnessed the presentation of the 7thState of Judiciary and Administration of Justice Report (SOJAR), 2017/18.
The annual report is a statement of accountability in which the judiciary details its successes and challenges during the year in review while drawing a roadmap on how to fix the identified gaps.
Brokers of justice, said President Kenyatta , have persistently exploited the judicial system to block and stall government projects worth huge sums of money.
“ As I speak today, projects worth colossal amounts of money have stalled, either because the court has put injunctions or stopped the processes all together,” he said
The President said it was unfortunate that a thread of selfish individuals have continued to block government projects with undeclared interests and in the process left many Kenyans suffering and denied essential services.
“And as if this is not enough, the tax payer has to honour interest and penalty payments on loans for stalled projects,” said the President
Chief Justice David Maraga agreed with the President that corruption was endemic in the country, including the Judiciary and urged all Kenyans to say no to it.
President Kenyatta said no Kenyan is above the law and the judicial system should not be used to protect some individuals.
By PSCU