Kenya Chief Justice confirms security upgrade for top judges after attack

Kenya Chief Justice, David Maraga, on Wednesday clarified a news report that said the government had refused to beef up security for Supreme Court judges.

The story carried by the Reuters news agency suggested that the government had denied the judges extra security after the deputy chief justice’s bodyguard was shot.

But Chief Justice Maraga in a terse statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to a report by Reuters news agency that the government has turned down a request by the Supreme Court of Kenya for extra security for its judges.

“The office of the Chief Justice wishes to state that this report is untrue.” adding that “to the contrary, the Inspector General of police has in fact enhanced the security of Supreme Court judges.”

The shooting incident of October 24 resulted in the failure of the court to sit the next day on a petition that sought to postpone the October 26 poll. The unavailability of the deputy chief justice and other judges meant the poll went ahead.

David Maraga led the country’s top court to annul the country’s August 8 presidential election, the first such ruling in Africa. The panel in a majority decision held that the process was marred by irregularities. They ordered the election body to hold a re-run in 60 days.

The main opposition NASA coalition who took the case to court, however, boycotted the re-run citing lack of reforms by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC.)