Three Tuesdays ago, I went for lunch at a popular restaurant on Elgeyo Marakwet Road in Kilimani area of Nairobi.

The eatery is largely patronised by customers from the Luhyia and Luo communities, mostly because both chicken and fish are served in elaborate abundance. Which is why I was surprised to see Attorney-General Justin Muturi arrive at the joint at the same time as I.

I was more surprised, however, when as I made it to greet him, his bodyguards shielded him away to a VVIP side of the eatery without an iota of concern in spite of him witnessing the small spectacle. How things change. Muturi is a person very well known to me. That will be a story for another day.

While there, I received a notification that President William Ruto and his Nigerian counterpart BolaTinubu had been picked among the 100 influential persons in the world.

Back in the office 30 minutes later, I found Ruto breathing fire and brimstone in a live TV transmission from Nyandarua where he was attending the burial of host Senator John Methu’s father.

In Nyandarua, an enraged Ruto was declaring war against the Judiciary for alleged corruption and ineptitude. Ruto, his deputy Rigathi Gachagua and a host of members of the Executive, Legislature and riffraffs from the UDA party, have sustained an onslaught against the Judiciary for almost a month now.
I am still left to wonder whether all the commotion being raised by the President and his allies is on the expert advice of Muturi.

It is the responsibility of Muturi to give counsel to the Head of State and the government that he leads. He is the principal legal adviser. So what is Muturi’s role in the ceaseless outbursts and hurling of brickbats at the Judiciary?

All along Muturi has remained silent. He must pronounce himself on this matter. His silence is not only deafening but it is also disappointing and complicit.

There is no gainsaying the fact that there are bad elements in the Judiciary. In fact, some of them are so bad an egg that one wonders how they got there in the first place. However, rogue members of the Bench must be dealt with in the constitutionally laid down procedure without any tinge of intimidation, coercion, public lynching and threats as the Executive is doing.

It is gratifying that Gachagua has opted to tread on that legal path, though he did not have to make noise about it in public while in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet.

Kenyans expect Muturi to be stating or clarifying the Government’s position on matters touching on law, including the attack on the Judiciary.

Former Attorney-General Githu Muigai famously said while still in office that it is his duty to advise the President and the government but not to implement the advice as his role ends at advising for it is the duty of the advised to take the advice or not.

We need to hear from Muturi as to whether his advice is being ignored, he is not advising at all or what Executive is spleetering out there is actually generated from his advice.

My view 15 years ago was that we needed to have then Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board headed by former Solicitor General (now late) Sharad Rao transformed into a commission where the public can channel complaints against the Bench for action.

— The writer is Revise Editor, People Daily.