- "We are meeting at the Supreme Court at 10am to march. We are going to have a peaceful protest," she said.
- She added that the demonstration will challenge other utterances made by other government officers downgrading the mandate of the judiciary.
Image: FILE
Law Society of Kenya Vice President Faith Odhiambo has reiterated the call for lawyers to come out and join the scheduled protests on Friday.
Speaking with Spice FM, Odhiambo said they will peacefully protest against the utterances made by President William Ruto on the judiciary being "corrupt".
"We are asking lawyers to come out tomorrow morning. We are meeting at the Supreme Court at 10 am to march. We are going to have a peaceful protest," she said.
She added that the demonstration will challenge other utterances made by other government officers downgrading the mandate of the judiciary.
"It is a demonstration against all utterances including those made by the President, some Cabinet Secretaries and MPs allied to the ruling party that has been saying court orders are papers and things like that," she said.
"Our country is based on the rule of law. We have a Constitution that guides how we work and how the three arms of the government are supposed to work independently from each other. So we expect that to be upheld to the latter."
At the same time, she urged Ruto to bring forth the evidence of corruption in the judicial sector, adding that "there are always a few rotten apples".
She went on to state that the LSK and Kenyans at large do not want corrupt judicial officers.
Expressing her apprehensiveness over the remarks, she said it was unfair for the President to label "everyone corrupt for the purposes that suit you".
"This labeling of the judiciary as wholesale is something that we do not agree with. Pick out who are the corrupt officers. Let us deal with them in accordance with the law," Odhiambo said.
She noted that the President had a mandate to protect the Constitution, adding that it provides the procedures on how to deal with corrupt judicial officers.
She cited the Judicial Service Commission where the evidence of corrupt judicial officials can be tabled, processed and a decision be made concerning them.
The call for protests was first made by LSK President Eric Theuri on January 3.
Then, he said all advocates and legal practitioners will put on purple ribbons during the demonstrations to signify their support for the Judiciary and the rule of law.
"The Law Society of Kenya will call its members to a countrywide peaceful purple ribbon protest march next week to affirm our oath publicly to defend the constitution, rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary," Theuri said in a tweet.