- Acting country director Vincent Chahale said such officers fall short of constitutional provisions on integrity.
- Chahale spoke as Deputy IG Gilbert Masengeli presented himself in court in a bid to quash a six-month sentence slapped on him over contempt of court.
The International Justice Mission (IJM) has insisted that public officers who blatantly disobey court orders should be found unfit to hold public officers.
IJM is a global organisation that collaborates with government agencies to support public justice systems to protect everyone equally, including those living in poverty, and has been involved in ongoing police reforms and projects aimed at preventing child sexual violence.
The organisation’s acting country director, Vincent Chahale has said such officers render themselves ineligible to hold public offices as they fall short of the constitutional provisions on integrity and the principles of public service.
Chahale said courts should be moved or move upon their own motions to make such bold declarations that can deter incidences of disobedience of court orders.
“In my opinion, this is the only antidote to disobedience of court orders by public officers,” Chahale said.
The country director spoke as Justice Lawrence Mugambi quashed a six-month jail sentence imposed on Deputy IG Gilbert Masengeli over contempt of court.
Masengeli presented himself in court to purge himself of the conviction that was imposed by Mugambi after he failed to honour the court summons, but the sentence was suspended for seven days to give him a chance to defend himself.
The summons were issued after the Law Society of Kenya acquired interim habeas corpus orders on August 23 that directed Masengeli to produce three missing individuals allegedly abducted in Kitengela a month ago.
The three have since been found after being dumped by their captors in various parts of Kiambu County yesterday night.
Justice Mugambi said he was convinced that Masengeli regretted his actions and that his apology appeared genuine.
But Chahale attributed the enhanced disobedience of court orders to the 'martyr' of the opposition that has since been incorporated in the broad-based government, which he said is not anchored in law.
“This government of national unity is anchored more in a political truce. We had a similar government in 2007, but it was structured in law, meaning it naturally created a system of checks and balances. That is not the situation now.”
Chahale noted that the framers of the constitution had foreseen such circumstances and created constitutional commissions to protect Kenyans’ sovereignty and secure observance of democratic values and principles by all government agencies while promoting constitutionalism.
But the commissions have in the recent past abandoned their constitutional duties and have kept mum when other agencies violate human rights, he pointed out.
“Especially during the protests, there were gross violations of human rights by the police, yet these constitutional commissions are not exercising their constitutional duties given to them by the people of Kenya,” he said.
“This has resulted in undesired consequences, such as institutional disobedience of court orders by government agencies,” Chahale added.