Justice for Sale in Kenya

It is widely known that justice delayed is justice denied but as it appears in Kenya, justice not paid for is justice not worth having.

A nation that has a fair judicial system develops more rapidly in terms of the economy as compared to a country that lacks the same.

For a long time, the judicial system in Kenya has been blamed as an ailing system that is marred with laxity, corruption and all manner of evil.

The majority of Kenyans had lost confidence in the judicial system as the judges always worked hard to prove their incompetence.

The confidence in the judiciary started creeping back after Chief Justice Willy Mutunga was appointed the president of the Supreme Court of Kenya.

Dr. Willy Mutunga has on several occasions acknowledged that there is massive corruption in the judicial system in the country saying that many magistrates as well as judges engage in corruption.

Dr. Mutunga also said that Kenya has become a country run by cartels and that this cartels also rule the corridors of justice in the country.

Justice and economy are two things that move together like twins and trying to subdue the other is as well as killing the other. Killing justice in a country is not murder but suicidal.

To end corruption in both government and private agencies that have been on the rise in the recent past, requires a stable and strong judicial system and when the judicial system is ailing with the same diseases then fighting such a vice will never yield any fruits.

There has been numerous cases of corruption that have touched on top government officials but none of them have ever been tried as the economy continue to be brought to its knees as the looting moves from one level to another.

The courts in Kenya also determines the kind of leadership we can have especially when a petition is presented before it.

During the last general elections, the current opposition petitioned the elections and the Supreme Court, the highest and the final judicial giant in the country ruled in favor of the current ruling party.

Recent revelation that one of the judges at the Supreme Court received some 200 million shillings as a bribe so that he could influence the outcome of an election petition concerning one of the governors shakes all the confidence that had started being built in the hearts of Kenyans.

Investors too, before deciding to invest in a country, consider such things as the stability of the judicial system in a country. The judiciary should be a voice of Solomonic wisdom in a society where everyone wants to get their way but this is not the case in Kenya right now.

Article by Juma Fred.