Stop attacking Supreme Court judges on social media, Judiciary warns Azimio supporters

The Judiciary has warned supporters of the Azimio la Umoja coalition to stop attacking Supreme Court judges on social media.

The Judiciary said in a statement that it had noted an increase in attacks directed at the Supreme Court judges following their unanimous decision to uphold the election of Dr. William Ruto as the fifth president of Kenya.

This decision was announced on September 5, 2022 following the petition by Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga who filed a case at the apex court against Dr. Ruto’s win.

Here’s the full statement from the Judiciary:

“The Judiciary’s attention has been drawn to a recent wave of sponsored sustained attack targeting the Supreme Court of Kenya.

The Supreme Court, was established under Article 163(1) of the Constitution 2010 and given original exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes relating to the elections to the office of the President. The Court has therefore only done its work pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution

It is further noted that the court is yet to render its reasoned judgment which will outline the basis on which the election of the President-elect was upheld. There is a legal provision of 21 days following the reading of the short version of the judgment to do so. Kenyans are therefore requested to exercise patience as they await the full judgment which will shed light and provide clarity on the grounds and rationale of the Court.

Meanwhile, no Judge of the Supreme Court has written a resignation letter, as claimed in a section of media, because there is no reason to do so. The Court is working in harmony as a cohesive unit.

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Further, there has been an unfortunate trend of isolating individual judges and attributing the judgment to them. The Court has seven judges who are independent and highly respectful of each other as equals. A “UNANIMOUS judgment is a collective decision made by the Court and not by an individual

The persons sponsoring and executing the attacks on social media to disparage the Court are advised to desist forthwith.

The Supreme Court is committed to diligently serving the people and the Republic of Kenya

as per the Oath of the Office that the Honourable Judges solemnly took.”