NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 5 – Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has thrown down the gauntlet, daring President William Ruto to substantiate his claims of judicial bribery in cases related to the Affordable Housing Levy and the Social Insurance Fund.
Omtatah, who is himself a litigant in one of these cases, denies any involvement in bribery, asserting that he had no knowledge of any fellow litigants who had either bribed or attempted to bribe a judge or any judicial officer for a favourable ruling.
While acknowledging the President’s right, like any other citizen, to be heard and protest, Omtatah challenged him to utilize his access to intelligence resources to unearth instances of corruption within the judiciary.
“Directly, I challenge him to provide concrete evidence of any judge taking bribes or any litigant offering bribes. Let the truth come to light,” Omtatah declared Friday in a press conference amid outrage directed at the Head of State from the Opposition and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) which have warned he risks becoming a tyrant.
President Ruto has dominated the headlines since Tuesday when he declared his intent to disregard court-issued stay orders and push ahead with critical projects such as Affordable Housing and the Social Health Insurance Act which form part of his legacy.
His stance has elicited strong reactions from the opposition and the Law Society of Kenya, which cautioned against what they perceive as a disregard for the constitution and the risk of veering into dictatorship.
Ruto accused certain unnamed judicial officials of conspiring with corruption cartels to thwart government initiatives, vowing to dismantle such networks.
Omtatah, a fiery activist who has often been at odds with the Kenya Kwanza Alliance administration, insinuated that the President’s allegations were “grave and posed a threat to judicial independence.”
Casting doubt on Ruto’s claims of judicial corruption, Omtatah suggested that the allegations were a strategic maneuver to intimidate the judiciary into favouring the President’s pet projects.
“It appears that the President lacks concrete evidence against those he has accused of bribery. If he did, he would have handed the matter over to law enforcement for action instead of addressing it publicly,” Omtatah remarked.
He went on to express his belief that the current state of affairs, precipitated by the President’s stance, is unsustainable.
Senator Omtatah called on the Head of State to abandon what he described as a “destructive path” reminiscent of the turmoil during the 2007/2008 post-election violence when confidence in the judiciary was severely eroded.
Omtatah also implored the president to apologize to the judiciary and seek forgiveness from the diligent, public-spirited Kenyans and institutions that have challenged his pet projects in court.
“He cannot afford to be intoxicated by power and behave recklessly. The same applies to his assertion that he will flout court orders or, in essence, suspend the constitution and govern by executive decree,” Omtatah warned.
According to Omtatah, the President’s attack on the judiciary is merely an attempt to shift blame for the failures of his ill-conceived and lacklustre policies onto third parties.
“It is clear that any attempt to govern this country outside the boundaries of the law will face staunch resistance. The President should not underestimate this. Regardless of the circumstances, the serpent’s eggs will not be allowed to hatch,” he declared.
Chief Justice Martha Koome who chairs the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has asked judges and judicial officers to remain firm and discharge their duties while urging anyone aggrieved with their decisions to appeal or lodge a complaint with the commission.
President Ruto, in his address on Tuesday, stated that his administration would counter what he referred to as “judicial activism and impunity” hampering the government’s development agenda.
He stressed the importance of respecting the judiciary’s independence while expressing the need for a national dialogue to address perceived judicial misconduct and settle political disputes.
Recently, the High Court halted the enforcement and implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund Act 2023, the Primary Health Care Act 2023, and the Digital Health Act 2023 pending a legal challenge to their legality.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) obtained court orders preventing the government’s planned rollout of universal health coverage as outlined in these laws.
Despite the President’s announcement of the rollout in January, the High Court suspended the planned implementation of the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 by the Ministry of Health until February 2024.
