Judiciary gets flak after harsh rulings on poor

Even before the ink that Justice Lydia Achode had used to sign her new job contract had dried, Kenyans were already taking to social media platforms to demand justice.

Under the hashtag #JusticeFortheRich, Kenyans used Twitter to cast a spotlight on how the Judiciary works and to protest at how courts appear to favour the rich — who get away even with murder — and disadvantage the poor — who suffer long jail terms for such minor offences as stealing a neighbour’s chicken.

On Wednesday, the question of how judges dispense justice was a hot topic, trending at number four in Kenya.

“So, why is the Judiciary trending every week these days, and not for any good reasons?” posed E Nyandong, writing under his handle, @Impunity Republic of Kenya.

LIFE SENTENCE
The issue of Mr Emmanuel Chacha of Mombasa who was jailed for life for ferrying bhang worth Sh23,250 also provoked public rankle, considering that two public officials accused of abuse of office over the sale of land meant for a cemetery in Nairobi were jailed for one and three years respectively.

“On a serious note, what nonsense is this? Land grabbers get only 3 yrs in jail for a far more serious crime than the bhangi peddler who’s been sentenced to life. @ODPP_KE please look into this. This is just ridiculous,” wrote Jackie A under her handle @Jackie_Arkle.

On the same day that the Judiciary was trending, a court in Kisumu sentenced a 24-year-old woman to 15 years in jail for sex with a minor aged 16.

This too was a big issue with Kenyans on Twitter who felt that the judge had punished the woman, Ms Judith Wandera, for what they felt was essentially a romantic relationship with the boy who, she said, had presented himself as an adult.

“Really!! Okay In some Countries 16 years is the accepted age of Consent. But even though. 15 years is TOO harsh yet someone stole 283 million shillings and was handed a lesser punishment!!,” wrote BRAVIN (@ItsBravin).

BIAS
Others felt that the rich get preferential treatment in courts, including being allowed to skip sessions on account of ill health, a privilege, they felt, was not extended to the poor.

But that was not all that made wananchi unhappy with the Judiciary.

They also questioned why judges are too eager to issue injunctions that favour the rich.

“When the rich steal billions they are summoned to parliament to ASSIST in providing information and rush to court to obtain orders to prevent further investigations and prosecution,” wrote Kemei (@Kemeievans5).

“In Kenya, you are guilty until proven rich,” wrote another commentator.

JUSTICE
These are some of the issues that Justice Achode must address if she is to have an impact on how the public perceives her fellow judges and win over the confidence of a public that has grown increasingly sceptical with the judicial system.

She will, however, be happy to know that not everyone had something negative to say about the courts.

“Courts are the only place where citizens can turn to when no one else can help. Stop the attacks on the Judiciary,” implored Ephraim Ndegwa (@ephraim_ephbull).

When asked to comment on the social media criticism, Justice Achode said: “Judges don’t go out there looking for cases. The cases are brought before them. They hear all sides and rule in a certain way based on the evidence.”

Additional reporting by Sam Kiplagat