The ruling coalition, Jubilee Party has set out on a legislative mission to “cage” the judiciary ahead of repeat polls slated for October 26.
According to the Star, JP is set to introduce radical electoral amendments to limit judicial powers and at the same time, “cage” the Supreme Court Tuesday next week.
This is against pronouncements by the Chief Justice David Maraga who on Wednesday said they will not hesitate to nullify repeat polls if they are “shambolic”.
Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen noted the amendments will curtail powers enjoyed by the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court will be caged,” said the Elgeyo Marakwet Senator on Thursday.
The Party will pass an amendment that will make it almost impossible to nullify a disputed Presidential election.
In the September 1 ruling by the Supreme Court, August polls were the basis of technicality.
Deputy President William Ruto argued the rulings should have been informed by the numbers and not technicalities.
In the raft of new amendments, a petitioner will have to prove to the Supreme Court that “violations of the Constitution or any electoral law significantly alter the presidential outcome, as declared by the IEBC.”
This proposal has been adopted from Justice Njoki Ndungu’s 448-page judgment. She gave a dissenting stand in the petition saying NASA did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the election was flawed.
Once the new amendments are endorsed by the majority in Parliament, the Supreme Court will have no choice other than following the law.
“Once we do that [pass amendments], the Supreme Court has no choice. They cannot go pluck imaginations of their own. They would have to follow the law,” Murkomen stated on Citizen TV Thursday.