Njonjo Mue is the chairman of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). PHOTO/COURTESY
By NJONJO MUE
newsdesk@reporter.co.ke
The Government of Kenya failed to produce Miguna Miguna in a court of competent jurisdiction by 12.00 noon on Thursday 5th April 2018 as required.
I handed over my Passport Number C029226 to the Director of Immigration as promised.
You see, the thing is this, Kenya is home, and every home has its rules.
I do not know about you, but I draw the line for my home where armed state security agents overpower a Kenyan citizen by birth, forcefully inject unknown chemicals into him to sedate him like a wild animal being transferred from the Mara to the Tsavo, load him like cargo onto a plane, and unlawfully remove him from the territory of Kenya to a foreign country, all in defiance of a court order.
In hospital at Dubai International Airport where he was undergoing tests after he was sedated before being taken from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. PHOTO/FILE
I draw the line where a Cabinet Secretary decides that he will sit in his office and decide which laws to obey and which ones to explain away, which court orders to honour and which ones to ignore.
I draw the line where a committee of Parliament sits and listens deferentially as members of the Executive profile our judges and threaten our Judiciary.
I draw the line where the said government officials decide that attending a passing-out parade is more important than honouring court summons.
Kenya is home, but this house needs a thorough cleaning up.
We need to have a serious family conversation as to how this cleaning up can begin and, before we can have that conversation, we need to press the re-set button on the Miguna case to take us back to 6th February 2018 when the High Court ordered that he be produced in court and instead the government elected to remove him from the court’s jurisdiction. We all need to have a common understanding of the meaning of due process.
Until we do so, and until this wrong is righted, the government can keep my passport.
But make no mistake, if the leaders will not lead in the clean-up of this country because they cannot smell the stench of injustice from their air-conditioned cars, then We, The People, will.
Njonjo Mue is the chairman of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
