Eric Shimoli And Mugumo Munene
18 June 2005
Nairobi — Judges yesterday warned Kenya's leaders to obey court orders - or face three years in jail.
The law affects everyone and will be enforced without fear or favour, they said, apparently referring to Cabinet Ministers who had defied judges' rulings.
Their warning - the second given to politicians within 12 months - followed a statement by Lands minister Amos Kimunya that a Cabinet decision to remove settlers from Mau Forest would be implemented fully, in spite of a court order banning the evictions.
But yesterday the judiciary, in a statement signed by spokesman Dola Indidis, said they were concerned that lately there had been cases of open defiance of court orders.
Mark of civility
The judges said: "In a working democracy and as a mark of civility, court orders must be obeyed by all if we are to abide by the rule of law."
And the judiciary warned: "Let those concerned be warned that under Section 121 (1) of the Penal Code, disobeying a court order is punishable with imprisonment of three years, which the courts will enforce without fear or favour."
Leaders should set a good example, the department said.
It praised the Speaker of the National Assembly for warning Cabinet ministers they were not above the law.
Speaker Francis Kaparo on Thursday told them they were subject to the law, and that disobeying court orders was setting a bad precedent.
"We are treading on very dangerous grounds when no leader respects the law, including orders by the chair," he said. He spoke out after Kiharu MP Kembi Gitura, of the National Rainbow Coalition, claimed a minister, whom he did not name, had said a court order barring Narok county council from evicting people in Sagamian was useless.
The Judiciary's statement came as the UN Habitat executive director Anna Tibaijuka called for dialogue in handling forest evictions.
Mrs Tibaijuka said: "We normally promote dialogue between those who are evicting and the evictees. The manner of relocation can always be discussed and improved."
Mr Kimunya had said no amount of politicising the evictions or crying foul would stop the government from carrying out its constitutional mandate of protecting the country's natural resources for posterity.
He said court orders affecting the forest did not stop the Cabinet from implementing the Ndung'u Commission recommendations on land use, but were directed only at Narok county council.
He said while the Government sympathised with those who, he said, "were conned into buying the illegally-acquired forest land", it considered the water-catchments as more important. The Government would deal with facts and not emotions.
"We sympathise, especially with school children who have no idea about what it is happening but we are assessing the situation to see how quickly we can resettle them," Mr Kimunya went on.
He accused some politicians of playing to the gallery and to the camera, while those they misled into buying the land suffered.
Remarking forest boundaries was going ahead and anybody inside the forest borders would have to go.
A group of Kanu MPs went to court to stop the Government from evicting people from the forest.
The evictions were also criticised by the Law Society of Kenya whose chairman, Mr Tom Ojienda, said they were illegal.
It is the second time the judges have criticised politicians for disobeying court orders.
Chief Justice Evan Gicheru directed courts last August to deal decisively with other arms of government trying to interfere in the administration of justice.
He decried interference by Parliament in the Judiciary and asked the courts to assert their independence.
Then, MPs had tried to debate the suspension of judges and orders to the ministries of Agriculture and Finance for compensation on imported sugar from the Comesa region.
"The judges must make it clear that they alone have the power to make judicial decisions and that they will punish all who disobey those decisions firmly, swiftly and severely," the Chief Justice announced.
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