Illegitimate orders ruining the integrity of our courts

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

The last people one expects to grind the wheel of justice to a halt are judges, but that is exactly what seems to be gripping Kenya. The court orders being issued like confetti at a wedding in the name of justice are not worth the paper they are written on. The process of issuing court orders has become a charade, and the court orders themselves have become a tool of oppression.

Just last week, the courts in Kenya tripped over themselves to see which court would do its worst. An Eldoret court won hands down. A matter that was initially handled by a court in Nairobi, ended up being cancelled by a court order issued in Eldoret. This followed a dispute by a café owner in Nairobi who rightly took to the courts to seek justice from his landlord. Not willing to wait for the justice process, the landlord headed to a different court to push through his wishes of having the café forcibly evicted, and by extension destroy someone’s livelihood.

Impunity that leads to forcible eviction is a template set by the government and the courts. The whole notion of issuing court orders to frustrate the justice system and disobeying court orders was started by the government and the courts. The latter has, for a long time, allowed itself to be used to rubber-stamp any court order for monetary gain or advance impunity.

This example is now being copied by the public, businesses and corrupt individuals. JurisPesa may have started as a slang, but it has gained traction to confirm that money is affecting how judgements are decided. It is also affecting poor people and lawyers who are frustrated by a corrupt judicial system. Given the outcry from lawyers, it is now believable that it is pointless to hire a lawyer in Kenya when you can buy a judge. An act that has brought the whole court system into disrepute.

Disobeying court orders

It is not surprising to see lawyers boycotting the courts last week in protest of impunity that has continued to undermine the justice process.

Their allegations that corruption cases are being deliberately stalled by judges and magistrates who issue court orders to vitiate cases in favour of suspects is troubling. And, frankly, it makes a mockery of the legal process and professionals such as lawyers.

We have seen the government ignore court orders, for instance in the saga between former Minister for Interior Dr Fred Matiang’i and the lawyer Miguna Miguna whom despite being a Kenyan by birth was deemed an alien and kicked out of the country. This is despite the court issuing an order to the contrary.

Impunity of this magnitude played in public, with the government digging in its heels in disobeying court orders, does very little to instill confidence in the courts. Years later from the Miguna saga, court orders continue to be disobeyed by the government. The recent example being the now rescinded Ebola isolation facility in Kenya for US nationals.

The last vanguard for justice is the court. Once that fails, it is anarchy from there.

That is why a legitimate business would lose out to a crook who simply flashes a court order obtained under dubious circumstances. Anarchy has now latched onto some auctioneers, who have become part and parcel of the impunity that is prevalent in the corridors of justice.

Violence around court orders

Taken that there is a court order to evict someone or a business, that does not in any way translate to destruction of property of the person being served. Auctioneers gotten away with the crime of destroying property as they serve their masters of impunity, and this now needs to end. There has to be a time limit given for people to find alternative sites and remove their wares from premises even if they are legitimately being evicted. In case of destruction of buildings, surely there ought to be compensation for such violent acts and forceful eviction from land?

The issuance of court orders and counter orders at different courts is what is exacerbating the problem and the violence around court orders.

The court system appears disjointed by one court playing ignorant of the decision made by a sister court. There must be a system in place to protect the initial court order if it was properly issued and with the sole purpose of pursuing justice. A case must now see its whole life in one court to minimise cases of impunity. What we are witnessing is robbery with the full blessing of the courts.

Allegations of impunity in Kenyan courts, corruption and lack of accountability have been made by all and sundry, but the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the Chief Justice have continued to sit on their hands rather than going gung-ho against corrupt magistrates and judges.

The inaction from the two key principals is harming the Kenyan society, just as the corrupt magistrates and judges are. It is time to restore faith in the judicial system by getting rid of corruption and impunity.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.