WHY THE CHIEF JUSTICE SHOULD DESIST FROM MAKING UNCALLED FOR ROAD SIDE DECLARATIONS AND UNNECESSARY PUBLIC STATEMENTS
Chief Justice Martha Koome
By Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins Owuor
Worth Noting:
- Last week Chief Justice Martha Koome introduced a gag rule through an amendment of Rule 18 of the Supreme Court (Presidential Election Petition Rules 2017). ‘Upon commencement of the hearing of the petition by the court, litigants, their advocates and advocates’ agents shall refrain from expressing their opinion on merit, demerit or predict the outcome of the petition in any manner that would prejudice or impede court proceedings, until judgement is delivered,’ reads the new rule.
- The following day after the CJ gazettement the lawyers decided to unleash violence on her. Lawyers condemned Martha Koome over the Supreme Court’s decision to gag advocates and litigants from making comments on a presidential election petition while it is still being heard.
Martha Koome who is the incumbent Chief Justice has been in office for less than two years. Despite that being the case, she has started gaining popularity for wrong reasons. Perhaps it might be prudent to air out the functions of Chief Justice. According to the legal framework in Kenya, Chief Justice has the following roles: s/he is responsible for chairing the judicial service commission which is an independent commission which serves to promote, facilitate the independence and accountability of the judiciary and efficient, effective and transparent administration of justice; the chief justice is a judge and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya; the Chief Justice is to chair National Council of Administration of Justice;
Moreover, the Chief Justice acts as a link between judiciary and the other arms of government; assign duties to the Deputy Chief Justice, the President of Court of Appeal, the Principal Judge of the High Court and the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary; gives an annual report to the nation on the state of the Judiciary and on the administration of justice; and causes the report to be published in the Gazette and a copy thereof sent, under the hand of the Chief Justice, to each of the two Clerks of the two Houses of Parliament for it to be placed before the respective Houses for debate and adoption; exercises general direction and control over the judiciary; the Chief Justice also takes part in the selection and recruitment of Judges and Magistrates who are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission; the Chief Justice also presides over the swearing of the President, the Deputy President and many other government officials and ceremoniously administers the oath that newly qualified lawyers take as they are admitted to the Roll of Advocates. In a nutshell, the Chief Justice performs a wide range of judicial, administrative and ceremonial duties provided under the Constitution and various statutes.
Having quite elaborated the roles of the Chief Justice I now proceed to the declarations in print and verbal made by the Chief Justice which I find to be very unnecessary and I even wonder how a person of such stature can stoop such low. Exactly one week ago, Martha Koome made it to the headlines of the news on a rather unnecessary issue from my end. While speaking at Loreto Limuru Girls High School in Kiambu County she stated that all forms of indiscipline cannot be tolerated and that parents must take responsibility for raising their children in a moral manner. That wasn’t all. Now to the controversial issue. She warned that Parents who have a habit of suing teachers and schools after their children have been expelled for breaking school rules that such cases will be dismissed and the parents will be responsible for the costs thereof. She then proceeded noting that one way to ensure that children are fully protected from all ills is to improve on the child protection laws, warning that any suspects found guilty of child abuse will face a sentence of at least 20 years. The last part of the statement was somehow sensible. But the controversial statement I will be able to deconstruct in the forthcoming paragraphs for I don’t tolerate reasoning based on unnecessary emotions that can’t boil water in my grandmother’s kitchen.
Last week Chief Justice Martha Koome introduced a gag rule through an amendment of Rule 18 of the Supreme Court (Presidential Election Petition Rules 2017). ‘Upon commencement of the hearing of the petition by the court, litigants, their advocates and advocates’ agents shall refrain from expressing their opinion on merit, demerit or predict the outcome of the petition in any manner that would prejudice or impede court proceedings, until judgement is delivered,’ reads the new rule.
The following day after the CJ gazettement the lawyers decided to unleash violence on her. Lawyers condemned Martha Koome over the Supreme Court’s decision to gag advocates and litigants from making comments on a presidential election petition while it is still being heard. The Law Society of Kenya described the decision as ‘drastic, unjustifiable and ambiguous’ with a promise to sue the Chief Justice if she doesn’t consider rescinding her decision. Law Society of Kenya President Eric Theuri said that ‘We are writing a letter to the Chief Justice asking her to recall the amendment with immediate effect to allow for public participation. She should have presented the rules to Law Society of Kenya and other stakeholders to look at them and make comments before they were gazetted. If she does not comply, we’ll go to court to challenge legality of regulation. Law Society of Kenya was not aware of the amendments; we learnt about them in the gazette notice. The amendment, though intended to protect integrity of the proceedings before the Supreme Court, is something that cannot be supported in a democratic society that cherished the constitutional rights and freedom of expression.’
In an interview on Spice FM hosted by the legendary Journalist Eric Latiff, Martha Koome decided to make tongues wagging once again by her speech. According to Koome, impeachment is like as sentence. She said that impeachment is equivalent to someone being sentenced to jail for wrongdoing. When asked if an impeached politician should be given reprieve as he seeks appeal, the Chief Justice disagreed. She said in a justice system, a sentence is not lifted because someone has filed an appeal. A sentence can only be lifted if the appeal is successful or if the convict has served full term.
Following the remarks by Chief Justice Koome, Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko decided to also rebut to sentiments made by Chief Justice Martha Koome. According to Sonko he underscores that the Kenyan Constitution does not explicitly state that persons who have pending court cases are not eligible to hold public offices. ‘For you to vie the court has to set aside your impeachment but the Constitution says that a person is not disqualified unless all possibilities of appeal or review of the relevant sentence or decision has been exhausted. Mine is a decision; it is an impeachment. My abuse of office case is yet to be determined by the Anti-Corruption Court. I want Koome to show us where it states in the Constitution that the sentence has to be set aside first. I will continue campaigning. This thing is not about Sonko; it is about bringing change to Mombasa,’ Sonko categorically stated.
On my truth meter, I comment as follows regarding the Chief Justice uncalled for public statements. Judges generally of which Chief Justice is are perceived to be blind to comments made on social media because they make their rulings on the basis of facts and evidence provided and presented to them in the court. That is rule number one. Someone should inform Martha Koome of the same the earlier the better. Eric Theuri rightly noted that even when a court makes a decision that is contrary to judicial precedents then there must be explanation why the judge is departing from previous decisions of the court. Judges have no business looking at the latest tweets on a case before them. If a judge does so it reflects how such folks are lazy. Yea, I said it. Chief Justice Koome should beware of Sir Dawly Dawson postulation in, Judges and the Media, where Sir Dawly advised as follows: ‘There is a substantial reason why, to my mind, judges do not allow themselves to be interviewed. It is that the function of a judge is to judge cases. That he does in open court and when he makes his decisions he gives reasons for them publicly. Everything is there for public scrutiny and there in no real point to be served by any further explication.’ Freedom of expression is sacrosanct and vouchsafed in the Constitution explicitly. The gazettement of the amendment is just an affront to the Constitutional dictates. Martha Koome should be tamed.
On the other issues, it must be noted that such cases including the impeachment of Mike Sonko case may get to Supreme Court. Definitely, she (the Chief Justice won’t be impartial. Her stand is known already, no wonder the advice that Judges should speak boldly via their judgements. These road declarations and media interviews are just undeserving opinions that are not legally binding but have a way to make litigants view some judges as impartial. May this get to Koome hopefully. Let her not be seen again in public making unnecessary statements.
This retrogressive and abrasive culture that Martha Koome is embracing needs to stop. As a judge she is only allowed to speak through her judgements by all means. These other declarations aren’t the reason she got to the top office. If she doesn’t do that. She should be aware that measures can be taken against her. Moreover, he move to make amendments without involving stakeholders is an affront to Article one which authoritatively states that the people are sovereign and they must be involved in each decision by those whom have delegated powers. The Chief Justice Martha Koome should reread the Constitution that isn’t my role surely. More is expected from her as a Chief Justice. If at all she wants to be a politician let her share with us and her roles be given to another entity who will live to the aspirations of that office.
Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins Owuor is a law student at University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus. He regularly comments on legal, social, contemporary and political issues.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Kenya’s scouting laws face overhaul: Kiarie leads push to align movement with devolved governance
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER September 19-20, 2026
- Kenya joins US and UK to put citizens on the terrorism frontline
- Kenya’s parliament races to tame the AI frontier
- Kalonzo calls Ruto to order over Uhuru attacks
About the Author
