“Lawlessness and impunity seem to be finding their way back into our national life, targeting not just individuals but also property in a manner witnessed in a previous era that Kenyans had hoped was gone forever,” -Raila Odinga
Azimio One Kenya Party leader Raila Odinga has criticized the judiciary, alleging that it “dances to the tunes of the Executive” by acting as the government’s legal department. The move by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) to drop cases, including the Ksh. 7.4 billion fraud case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and nine other people, was criticized by Mr Odinga on Thursday. He said that this was a blatant sign that senior government officials were negatively influencing the judiciary.
Raila cited last week’s incident where he claimed criminal gangs acting as auctioneers raided and demolished a family’s home in Nairobi’s Westlands Estate, terming it an act of impunity. He attributed the demolition of Niraj Shah and his wife Avani Shah’s Ksh. 80 million Westlands home, to the many problems with the judiciary and the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
“Lawlessness and impunity seem to be finding their way back into our national life, targeting not just individuals but also property in a manner witnessed in a previous era that Kenyans had hoped was gone forever,” the Azimio leader said.
“The Westlands incident, taken together with recent developments in which the Director of Public Prosecutions has moved fast to drop cases against government officials and the willingness of the Judiciary to dance to the tunes of the Executive, point to the fact that as a country, we are flirting with lawlessness,” he added.
On Thursday, the anti-corruption court granted a request to drop the case against deputy president Rigathi Gachagua in the Ksh. 7.4 billion fraud cases. According to the opposition leader, if the current trend is not stopped, criminals would get more daring and not only start threatening communities but also even security personnel.
“While public outcry seems to have forced the government to take up the matter of the so-called auctioneers in the Westlands saga, there is need for actions that will affirm that political patronage shall not be a substitute for the rule of law in Kenya,” he said.
