President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday appeared to mock Chief Justice David Maraga who made an angry speech in the presence of the head of state, attacking those who have criticized the Judiciary’s effort in the fight against corruption.
Get used to it – Uhuru mocks Maraga’s angry speech
Just move on - Uhuru tells Maraga over complaints
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A visibly angry Maraga told the Anti-Graft Summit at the Bomas of Kenya that he was particularly angry at professional bloggers who have run several campaigns against the Judiciary.
"I am now being side tracked by endless campaigns on social media. Like today, they showed me naked appearing to be massaging people who are supposed to be corrupt. The war on graft will not be won on such gimmicks,” the Chief Justice stated.
Bloggers
When President Kenyatta rose to speak, he said his efforts to tame bloggers had been frustrated by the courts and told the CJ to move on.
“I found it interesting, I saw that the CJ was very angry especially at bloggers. I remember there was a time when we had come up with a law to stop bloggers from insulting us left, right and centre. But it was taken to courts and they ruled that it was unconstitutional (mocking laughter). I think like the rest of us you will have to get used to it and just move on,” the head of state stated amid uproar from delegates.
Cyber Crimes Act 2018
President Kenyatta was making reference to the Cyber Crimes Act 2018 which was temporarily suspended by the High Court following a petition filed by Bloggers Association of Kenya.
The summit saw various government institutions pass blame over the failure to decisively deal with corruption.
Maraga said the Judiciary would not be used as a punching bag as it was purely guided by the rule of law and hard evidence.
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