RAILA and UHURU impressed by ORENGO’s prowess and mastery of the law as he schools High Court judges who annulled BBI – Look!

 

Wednesday, June 30, 2021 – The five High Court judges who declared the Building Bridges Initiative as null and void were wrong even before they made the ruling.

This was revealed by Siaya Senator James Orengo yesterday during the hearing of the BBI appeal case.

Orengo, who was representing the BBI proponents in the Court of Appeal, argued that judges – Justices Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Chacha Mwita, and Teresia Matheka – were imagining that Kenyans were living outside the constitution and not guided by it. 

This, he argued, made them misinterpret the meaning of basic structure and sovereignty of the people.

Orengo stated that these two phrases formed the fundamental argument of the BBI case. 

“Let me ask a question; Does the Constitution create people as sovereign outside or inside the Constitution? The manner in which the court dealt with basic structure is people operating outside the Constitution.”

“They got it wrong before – it’s clear even in the preamble of the Constitution. People adopting the Constitution are adopting it for themselves and doing it under the Constitution,” Orengo stated. 

He added that the Constitution binds all persons. This, he explained, was why President Uhuru Kenyatta had the right to initiate the popular initiative. 

Orengo explained that Kenyans despite being sovereign cannot disregard the Constitution but rather live under it.

He gave an example that Kenyans cannot walk into the courts and demand judges to retire just because they – the people who are sovereign and gave judges power – have the authority to demand it back. 

“That’s not how a democratic country works.”

“We have to provide lasting peace and be a truly democratic country.”

“Even during Repeal of Section 2A under the old Constitution, the clause was part of basic structure,” he pointed out. 

Court of Appeal President Daniel Musinga interrupted and asked “is every clause under the Constitution amendable as long as it is done right?” to the acknowledgment of the Senior Counsel who concurred. 

Orengo argued that the High Court had limited the Constitution such that some clauses were not amendable. 

“We should never use insurrection or revolution as a way of amending constitutions. Kenyans have been in the street and this initiative addresses long-standing issues.”

“It is really painful at the end – every opportunity the people may have to amend the constitution as sovereign – even one step they cannot do it yet Parliament can do it anytime.”

“For Kenyans, we have to start asking ourselves if we are promoters and why there are prohibitions that prevent someone from being a promoter,” he stated.