Raila slams Matiang’i over ‘reckless’ statements on judiciary

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has come out to condemn Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i’s remarks against the judiciary when he appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on national security.

Matiang’i, flanked by Principal Secretaries Karanja Kibicho (Interior), Gordon Kihalangwa (Immigration) and Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet, on Tuesday accused a group of “not more than five judges” of seeking to embarrass the government.

In a press statement sent to newsrooms, Mr. Odinga has termed Matiang’i’s remarks as “virulent” and accused the Interior boss of “using language that should not be on the lips of a state officer” to attack “what he perceived to be his enemies including his predecessors who are unfortunately long dead.”

The NASA chief further labelled the CS’s remarks during the presentation as “highly irresponsible and reckless.”

“In our Statement to the Nation, President Kenyatta and I urged every leader and every Kenyan to embrace the responsibilities they know to be theirs and help the nation reconcile and make progress. Dr. Matiang’i failed terribly in this yesterday,” said the former Prime Minister.

“It is unethical and irresponsible for a Cabinet Secretary to publicly denigrate another arm of government and to refer to judges as “evil.” It is irresponsible to castigate one’s predecessors in office particularly when they are dead and not there to defend themselves.”

The ODM party leader also urged Parliament not to allow itself to be used as a platform through which state officers make unwarranted attacks against other forms of government.

Odinga also urged Dr. Matiang’i to register a complaint and present his evidence against the judges to the Judicial Service Commission as it is the body with the constitutional mandate to pursue issues of unethical behavior of judges.

He also asked the CS to challenge any court decisions he wasn’t comfortable with to superior courts through established channels of appeal.

“If the CS feels that his predecessors in office did not carry out their work in a way that is satisfactory, he is the Cabinet Secretary now. He should correct what he believes is a mistake and change the processes of the Ministry so that those mistakes do not compromise the State. But he should not treat Kenyans to the drama that he played out yesterday before members of the National Assembly,” he stated.

“We have just come from the longest, most dramatic political period in Kenya’s history. Every leader should know that and should behave and talk in ways that will help Kenyans re-focus on the problems we have in a sober and rational manner rather than worsen them. The politics and leadership of chest-thumping, fear mongering, hate and division must end in Kenya.”