CJ Mutunga: It is not the dress or address!

[kamalet]

www.nation.co.ke/News/Mutunga+to+get+rid+of+colonial+regalia+in+courts+/-/1056/1219564/-/o4lil5/-/index.html

CJ Mutunga, I think you are looking at the wrong things in the administration of justice.

It is not how judges dress or addressed that should be your priority. It is the clean up and enhancement of justice that Kenyans were looking for when they changed the constitution to grant the judiciary the indepenence.

Whether a judge is wearing a maasai shuka or called Sir/Madam and is still a corrupt or lazy judge, nothing will have changed.

Please first address the root causes of the problem, then decide how you want to dress!!

[man]

I had a problem with the CJ the moment he mentioned this colonial regalia thing at the time of his swearing in even though everybody here seemed to applude him. To me that was straight up hypocritical.

People applauded how he did not show up at his swearing in clad in a rob and wig but described how he appeared smartly dressed in a "jungle green suit." So why are the robes and wigs colonial yet the "Jungle Green suit is not. The CJ-designate at the time also showed up at the ceremony in his reggedy car and left the event in limosine. Why is riding in that limosine not colonial. Is he planning to adopt the use of bicycle in future in his new quest to "de-colonize" the judiciary? Hypocrisy of the highest order.

My fear is that the CJ is getting caught up in a lot of non-issues. There are way too many important issues that need to be tackled in the judiciary instead of wasting people's time with the attire. In my opinion the attire in the Judiciary should remain intack, if only to reflect the rich history of the same. You do not become a better people by running away from your history.

If the CJ spends his energy to enhance service delivery, get rid of corruption and incorporate the extensive use of technology in the Juciciary, then he will leave a better and more long lasting legacy in the Judiciary. Please stop wasting our time with this dress code crap.

The CJ was given a very strong mandate to run the Judiciary and he should not misuse that mandate to bully and bulldoze his personal will into the judiciary and if he persists with this agenda I think both the bench and the bar should stand up to him.

I have heard over 1,001 grievances raised against the kenyan judiciary. I don't recall any one of those grievances I heard raising issue with the judge's dress code. Cj Mutunga please get your priorities right.

[merlin]

Change management,

There are some basic actions to be taken to initiate change. Most people resist change as they predominantly perceive the insecurity of losing the familiar world of their routine. This feeling of insecurity can become so strong that it will form an invincible obstacle to perceive the advantages of change and as such blocks the implementation process for the desired change.

To overcome this initial fear for change a low level insecurity item is blended into the change process to perceive change as being done without raising fear to unacceptable levels.

[commes]

Aug 16, 2011 15:49:43 GMT 3 @merlin said:

Change management,

There are some basic actions to be taken to initiate change. Most people resist change as they predominantly perceive the insecurity of losing the familiar world of their routine. This feeling of insecurity can become so strong that it will form an invincible obstacle to perceive the advantages of change and as such blocks the implementation process for the desired change.

To overcome this initial fear for change a low level insecurity item is blended into the change process to perceive change as being done without raising fear to unacceptable levels.

Well put Merlin. I can’t say it any better than that

[adongo23456]

Dr. Mutunga has several pending constitutional cases. We have the case against the Supreme Court itself. When is that getting sorted out? The country cannot wait forever. Get the matter resolved so the Supreme Court can get to work. Right now they are being paid for doing nothing. That is not right.

Then we have the ODM case against Ruto and company. That is a constitutional matter. My understanding is that it will go to hearing on August 24, 2011. Let's get that sorted out. If ODM wants to withdraw the case that is their business, but the CJ should make sure such cases are not held in limbo forever.

It is embarrassing that cases challenging elections of M.Ps are being heard four years after the election and the M.Ps are dropping like flies after being paid for four years only to be found to be in office illegally. We need Mutunga to clear the deck and get ready for cases regarding the implementation of the constitution. They are coming for sure. One is already in the pipeline. It is time to go to work.

[jane]

The point the CJ is making is that some of the attire are relic of colonial (British) times. True but irrelevant. I would rather he talked about the cost in purchasing them. The wigs are made from horse-hair ( are they called ‘hair’!) and is imported from London at an exorbitant costs. The gowns' ropes are also imported from the UK. A local alternative could equally serve the purpose.

Judicial gowns/ ropes and the wigs have a role to play in courts. The main reason is to differentiate a judge with his authority from the common man. The same can be said for the uniform, i.e police and so forth. I think it will be absurd to turn up in court and not know who is the judge. Especially with populace who are not 100% literate, and where many people find themselves defending themselves, a judge must be seem to be different from any other person in courts to attract and command respect and authority.

If there is a need to change , we need to look carefully at the duration when the ‘superior courts functions. I think is ludicrous that the current court sitting is scheduled in terns of summer and winter. So we have no functioning courts from June- September because their lordships are on ‘vacations’. That is why a duty judge must hear Miguna’s case as most are on holiday! And that they don’t sit over half of the month of December and whole of April. Yet they earn considerable amount of money!

[b6k]

Jane those vacations were for the British born judges who would then sail to the mother country for holiday. If you tried to modify them, I bet some wily local judge will just replace the summer/winter system with lengthy holidays during the long & short rains.

[jane]

b6k

To my knowledge, there is no british-born judge in the current crop of judges. Unless you know of any!

[cogency]

Kamale,

you are wrong on this one; perhaps you should indulge yourself in the field of psychology and the role the colonial regalia subconsciously play. The robes tend to give power (corrupt) and instead of them exercising autonomy; the judges have conformed to agentic individuals who see themselves as puppets of others and no longer responsible for their actions. Just like any other uniform like cops, Nazi and GSU when used to unleash terror and brutalize the civilians; those robes have proven and showed signs of pathology of power. I bet you would be more inclined to approach a cop if they are wearing a suit than the usual uniform. So removing that feeling "full of ourselves when dressed in colonial wigs" will reduce and a breath of new ideas will follow. That's my take.

[b6k]

Jane I was talking about back in the day. I'm not sure when BOAC started commercial flights to the Kenya colony but in those days the common mode of transport was by ship. That's why I said those British judges would "sail back to the mother country" a trip that would take several days if not weeks. That's why the court recesses were quite long to accommodate that. You'll recall even one Johnstone Kamau went (& returned) to the UK by ship.

[kamalet]

Aug 16, 2011 19:55:35 GMT 3 @cogency said:

Kamale,

you are wrong on this one; perhaps you should indulge yourself in the field of psychology and the role the colonial regalia subconsciously play. The robes tend to give power (corrupt) and instead of them exercising autonomy; the judges have conformed to agentic individuals who see themselves as puppets of others and no longer responsible for their actions. Just like any other uniform like cops, Nazi and GSU when used to unleash terror and brutalize the civilians; those robes have proven and showed signs of pathology of power. I bet you would be more inclined to approach a cop if they are wearing a suit than the usual uniform. So removing that feeling "full of ourselves when dressed in colonial wigs" will reduce and a breath of new ideas will follow. That's my take.

Cogency

It is not the message that is driven by the attire and the address as "your lordship" that worries me. The simple point is that even if the judges appeared to Kenyans in Kaunda Suits and dispensed justice in the lopsided and corrupt manner we know, nothing will have changed!!! Changing the dress or the address will not bring forward the cases that have been pending since 1994 to conclusion. There is a reason why the cases have been pending that long and it will not be changed by the Kaunda Suit or the Kenya uniform! Why should the people of some constituency in Kisii have to wait for 4 years to be told that their MP is in parliament illegally and that they have to queue for a day to elect their new leader to serve them for months?

That is the simple point I am making.

[commes]

AO, Jane, B6k, Cogency, Kamale et all……..


Those are very very remarkable observations and view angles on this discussion.

Kweli the mind is as diverse as mystery itself. The CJ has a lot of mixed judicial grounds to lead on and cover. I do not envy his job.


To deliver all theses and more, the CJ Mutunga and his deputy Baraza must keep Kenyans in the know on how they intend to address the backlogs and transverse the weighty constitutional issues among others.

I recall the CJ mentioning that he will come up with some sort of a blue print plan or document that Kenyans should use to hold him to account. The time has come for Kenyans to demand that plan from the CJ. The CJ’s honeymoon and gestation period in office is over and we demand that blue print from him.


Someone must bring this demand to his attention.

[kamalet]

Aug 17, 2011 13:39:12 GMT 3 commes said:

AO, Jane, B6k, Cogency, Kamale et all……..


Those are very very remarkable observations and view angles on this discussion.

Kweli the mind is as diverse as mystery itself. The CJ has a lot of mixed judicial grounds to lead on and cover. I do not envy his job.


To deliver all theses and more, the CJ Mutunga and his deputy Baraza must keep Kenyans in the know on how they intend to address the backlogs and transverse the weighty constitutional issues among others.

I recall the CJ mentioning that he will come up with some sort of a blue print plan or document that Kenyans should use to hold him to account. The time has come for Kenyans to demand that plan from the CJ. The CJ’s honeymoon and gestation period in office is over and we demand that blue print from him.


Someone must bring this demand to his attention.

Spot on !! Please deal with this blue print and this should have been the subject of the CJs speech at the judges colloquim in Mombasa!