Speaking during a courtesy call by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Kidero indicated that when some injunctions are issued, the county government loses a lot of money which could be used for development/FILE
Speaking during a courtesy call by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Kidero indicated that when some injunctions are issued, the county government loses a lot of money which could be used for development.
He further pointed out that many people have lost their lives after the High Court prevented the demolition of buildings which did not meet the required standards.
“We are concerned that some of the orders have been extremely harsh on the County Governments. We would appreciate a judicial policy which weighs in favor of the public interest involved. Often times, the County has been forced to lose hundreds of millions of shillings after courts have imposed restraining orders on revenue collection systems, sometimes it is a restraining order issued to prevent the county government from taking action against faulty structures,” he stated.
He stressed the need for courts to weigh injunctions and orders against public interest before issuing them.
“We wish to urge the issue of restraining orders and injunctions to be reviewed with a view to adopting a judicial policy that puts more weight on public interest. The county government has been experiencing a spate of arrests against its officers in the course of performing their official duties,” he stated.
The Chief Justice on the other hand stated that the judiciary will hold a forum with all its officers so as to come up with guidelines on orders and injunctions weighed against public interest.
“What we have done as a Judiciary is to have a workshop with stakeholders so that judges and magistrates can actually receive your complaints and concerns and also respond to them. As you know, in the old days I would act as a Judicial monarch and tell magistrates judges what to do but if I go that way today I will be remove tomorrow so I can’t even try,” he said.
He also reiterated the need for all leaders to obey court orders and if they have grievances to appeal rather than ignoring them.
Mutunga underscored the need for leaders to set a good example on obeying court orders as this will have a good impact on Kenyans attitudes to the Judiciary.
The Chief Justice added that paying no heed to court orders could eventually result to lawlessness since it would be tantamount to ignoring the Constitution.
“If court orders are not obeyed, then we are subverting the Constitution, we are overthrowing it, we are overthrowing the rule of law and we will get into a situation of lawlessness that we cannot control. I know some of the orders that we give might seem as wrong but the law is that you must appeal against them. That is why that process is there,” he said.
He stressed that when court orders are obeyed, people will feel more confident of the Judiciary and this will encourage more investments from other countries.
“The culture that I see every day of court orders being disobeyed is worrisome not just for the institution of the Judiciary but also for the whole country. You can imagine if a Governors and Senators disobey a court order, the message that goes to the entire country. Yes, they are leaders in their own right but I urge you all to obey court orders,” he said.
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