President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the schism between the Executive and the Judiciary on Tuesday, saying that while he is eager to obey court orders, he is compelled by his position to listen to the People of Kenya’s sovereign and supreme voice.
He claimed that the judiciary had put Kenya’s constitutional limits to the test by nullifying the 2017 General Election and attempting to overturn the people’s will through the BBI.
President Kenyatta emphasized the importance of a National Conversation in Kenya focused on the consequences of choice.
Earlier in his speech, he alluded to three lessons on the paradox of choices, in which he elaborated on how all opportunities granted by self-rule, all opportunities in the exercise of freedoms and self-rule, must be tempered by the consequences of choice.
He explained that the Judiciary, as an independent institution, should be bound by the consequences of its decisions as well.
“If the citizens are required to exercise their will and shoulder the burden of their choices, should the independent institutions not do likewise?” He posed
According to President Kenyatta, independent institutions benefiting from a progressive constitution pose the greatest threat to the balance.
“This balance between freedoms and the consequences of choice is probably most challenged by the growth of our independent institutions.” President Uhuru said on Tuesday. “Their growth has stretched our democratic boundaries to the limit; but it has not cracked them,”
He went on: “It has bent the will of the people; but it has not broken it,”
The Kenyan Constitution, according to the Head of State, is one of the most progressive in the world, arguing that most African states would have imploded under the pressure of annulled polls and the halting of people’s will.
“Any other African country experiencing the political turns and twists we have experienced in the search for greater perfection in our nationhood would have burst asunder,” he argued.
According to President Kenyatta, Kenya lost a whopping Ksh.1 trillion in just 123 days following the annulment of the 2017 election.
“When the Presidential election was nullified in 2017, we lost 1 Trillion Shillings as an economy in only 123 days, all for naught,” President Kenyatta said. “In fact, we were losing 1 billion shillings every working hour for the 123 days we held the 2017 election,”
While alluding to the paradox of choices, President Kenyatta stated that while the Judiciary made the decision, the people bore the consequences.
“Development programmes meant to make a difference in their lives had to be shelved; courtesy of the decision by the Judiciary,” he explained.
He continued: “The moral foundations of Justice demand that the Judiciary bears the burden of choice and the consequences thereof; especially where the burden of judicial choices is proposed to be carried by the people,”
At the same time, President Uhuru rallied support for the Bill, claiming that everyone, including its detractors, agree it is good for Kenya.
“We cannot engage in political stabilization if we live in political denial. For instance, everyone knows that BBI is good. It is good for our country. It is even good for those unhappy with it,” he added.
According to the Head of State, those opposing the Bill do so because they cannot imagine a better Kenya for all.
“They oppose BBI not because of its substance; which even its harshest critics concede is good, but because, unlike our Founding Fathers, they cannot dare imagine a better Kenya for all. ” he claimed.
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