Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah on Friday fought back accusations that he and other litigants compromised and colluded with judges to rule in their favour in the matter of implementation of affordable housing Levy and new Social Health Insurance Fund.
Omtatah says his hands are clean and has never sought to influence the decision to be made by judges on the two projects spearheaded by the government.
“I take this opportunity to state categorically that I have not bribed any judge, neither am I contemplating doing so. I don’t even know how judges are bribed and I am not so morally depraved that I can do so,” he said
“I also wish to categorically state that I am not aware of any of my fellow litigants, who have bribed, attempted to bribe, contemplated bribing, or maybe planning to bribe any judge,” Omtatah added
The outspoken Senator who spoke at a press briefing in Parliament says whereas the head of state, like every other citizen, has the right to protest the situation in the Judiciary just as he has done, and having access to intelligence, he should proceed to adduce evidence to support his claims.
“I look him straight in the eye and challenge him to table the evidence of bribe-taking against any judge or bribe-giving he has against any litigant and let the chips fall where they may,” he charged
He, however, believes President Ruto doesn’t have the said evidence, otherwise he would have handed the dossier over to law enforcement agencies.
“It is a grave matter if the President does not have any evidence to support his alarming allegations. And from the look of things, he doesn’t have an iota of evidence against the people he has accused of engaging in bribery,” he said
Omtatah insists that it is in the interest of justice that the integrity of the Judiciary is safeguarded by insulating it from both acts and omissions – be they political, administrative, or otherwise – that could undermine judicial authority.
“The independence of individual judges, who are tasked with interpreting and applying the law in specific cases, is a very important part of the principle of the rule of law,” he opined.
