Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu has taken her battle to survive to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s doorstep.
In an affidavit filed before a High Court Judge, the DCJ has sensationally accused President Kenyatta of engineering her misfortunes.
She said that a number of utterances and actions by the Head of State were meant to harass and threaten her over her decision to side with the majority in the nullified Presidential election of 2017.
“Immediately following the determination of the SCOK on September 1 last year, the President made public statements issuing both explicit and implicit threats against the majority judges who decided the outcome of the presidential petition. That is why I believe the impugned charges are not coincidental and appear to be part of a larger scheme to embarrass me, to expose me to ridicule and harassment,” the DCJ stated in a sworn affidavit.
Mwilu goes ahead to list some of the remarks President Kenyatta made in the aftermath of the historic ruling by the Supreme Court judges who included Mwilu, Chief Justice David Maraga, Justices Smoking Wanjala, and Justice Isaac Lenaola.
“We shall revisit this thing. We clearly have a problem…” the President is quoted saying. The reference to the judges as Wakora (crooks) is also included in Mwilu’s affidavit.
In another public speech President Kenyatta is quoted saying the judges should be fixed because they are not elected, “who even elected you? Were you? We have a problem and we must fix it.”
In the end prosecution of Justice Mwilu is a sensitive matter that touches the heart of the Judiciary. In the final analysis, justice for Kenyans and for Justice Mwilu should not only be done, but be perceived to be done.
An impartial legal process is the only path that will protect and entrench the rule of law and build the requisite confidence in the vulnerable and nascent justice system.
