Retired Chief Justice David Maraga says President Uhuru Kenyatta should have been impeached for failing to appoint 41 judges recommended to him, adding he fell short in his his constitutional duties.
Maraga said the President has failed to uphold a constitutional duty placed upon him which could warrant him being impeached.
“There are three court orders directing the President and even giving him a time frame and he has not appointed them. As far as I’m concerned, that is a violation of his constitutional duty,” Maraga said during an interview with Citizen Tv on Thursday.
“In fact I should say if he was in other countries, the President would be impeached for that. Because he swore to defend and uphold the Constitution.”
Maraga said that a scenario like that has never happened in Kenya’s jurisdiction hence the Constitution continues to be disregarded.
When asked what should be the next course of action now that the judges are yet to be appointed, Maraga said MPs should impeach the President to protect the Constitution.
“I believe there is a provision for which Parliament if it wanted to can use to impeach the President so that everybody is held accountable,” he said.
This comes two weeks after the High Court ruled that Uhuru can be sued while in office if he violates the Constitution.
Justices George Dulu, William Musyoka and James Wakiaga ruled that Uhuru does not enjoy absolute immunity from a civil suit while in office.
In the case, Katiba Institute sued the President for failing to appoint 41 judges recommended for hiring by the Judicial Services Commission.
Maraga also said the National Intelligence Service did not reveal to him the integrity issues it had with some of the candidates which made the President not appoint the judges.
He said that made him proceed to insist on their appointment, lest a loophole was created for manipulation of the Judiciary.
Maraga said the failure to reveal the integrity issues made him consider that there might have been some who did not want judges appointed for personal reasons.