Former Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga has revisited the 2013 Presidential petition ruling, noting that his main fear back then was whether the opposition would accept the court’s verdict.
Speaking to Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Mutunga noted that the country was politically divided, with one half leaning towards the Jubilee coalition, while the other was affiliated to the opposition.
In view of the above, Mutunga said he was afraid that the opposition (who the ruling went against) would not accept the verdict; a situation he says could have escalated the tension in the country.
“In 2013, my personal fear was because I knew about these divisions. I slept soundly when Raila as a great Statesman then, said he accepted the decision although he didn’t agree with it. If he had said what he said in 2007, maybe they would have hanged us in Uhuru Park, you never know with politicians.
“I generally had that fear that is the opposition going to accept our decision,” he said.
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File images of the judges of the Supreme Court back in 2013. [Photo: Courtesy]
Regarding his advice to the current bench on presidential petitions, Mutunga noted that Chief Justice Martha Koome and her colleagues should know that not every party will be pleased by their ruling.
As to whether he was influenced to rule in a particular way during the 2013 presidential petition, Mutunga noted that neither him nor other judges on the bench were approached by external parties.
“I didn’t get any call, I wasn’t influenced in any way. None of my colleagues said that they are being approached… The focus is eyes on the prize, are you complying with the Constitution, are you complying with the law? What does the evidence tell you?” he opined.
