That Chapter Six is bollox. Can really be abused by both the executive and the judiciary, especially when the latter start talking of such things like spirits.

How these guys could choose a guy with an earing to the supreme court always surprised me. They will rue their choice.

The spirits are talking. Some will listen; others will go down the annals of history as dead people walking.

Need I say more!

And what would that be? That is the problem that some of us have.

@mkeiyd don't you think that when we move from express provisions of the Constitution at Chapter Six to the spirit of that chapter (or the Constitution) then it can abused?

Am I wrong in supposing that almost all presidential candidates may find themselves in court soon, if the chief justice continues to play hard ball?

What price is the chief justice willing to pay for his position?

Why haven't the Ocampo 4 told us that they are willing to stand aside and wait for the court verdict?

I have a feeling that very few Kenyans believe in this constitution, and those that believe have too little power to defend it.

But there must be at least one bold person who is ready to lose his life, possessions, prestige and everything he has for the truth. And in this case, the truth is the Chief Justice's own being.

Will the new kid MDvd pass the integrity test under Chapter Six of the damn constitution? How will the 2/3rd Gender requirement be achieved now that Mutula with his ammendments is history at the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ministry???

Surely Elder. You must be abit uncomfortable with someone in Ruto/Uhuru's shoes running for president. Infact the whole point of this chapter was to protect the country against such a scenario. When/If the 2 are convicted, they will be out of the equation as they will be in hague and therefore there will be no need to refer to this chapter.

As we are now, these 2 cannot act in the best interest of this country and so certainly should not be allowed to become president.

@Elder, the constitution cannot contain all that should and should not be. It's not possible.
That's why specific laws come in to say expressly what's to be or not to be,based on the SPIRIT that you seem to despise.
Any act passed by parliament must be consistent with the constitution.
If such an act [now a bill] is to come as it is expected,then it is safe to work on the proviso that,the constitution, thru' the above spirit, bars people of questionable integrity.
The assumption of innocence till proven guilty is there to allow due process,not to give leeway to offenders,at the same time,defending the offenders' rights till conviction..
The matter in chapter six is to protect the nation,from alleged offenders.
@Elder,if Uhuruto is elected president, can you paint the kind of president/gov't/kenya we'll be having? A Bashir kind of president? A absentee president?
If convicted, another election costing billions?
For whose good @Elder?
FOR WHOSE GOOD?

I don't see whats wrong with a Bashir kind of president, i don't think there is much difference with say a US, Britain or Israel president.
If elected they will be immune from prosecution, so nothing to worry about.
Concerning the spirit, unless a referendum is called it will be hard to brew that spirit.

the "spirit" of the law is applied all over the world. only in kenya do we have judgements that have no spirits, morals or even hard liquor. most depended on how much money one had in their accounts.

those worrying about spirits in law should understand that that is what democracy is all about.

If the present parliament chose a liberal bench, then they should expect judgements to be liberal. If they chose a conservative bench, then decisions will be conservative.

That is what gives a constitution life. Decisions are based on where a society is in its growth curve.

Now who can doubt that the current growth curve in Kenya is to totally eliminate having thugs for candidates.

Maybe in 6 years time the bench will be too liberal to be palatable and we shall have the spirit in Kenya telling us that we need to be more reasonable.

But in 2012 the spirit in Kenya definitely says that we can't allow 2007 again, we can't allow drug dealers to make laws, and we can't allow thugs in suits making laws.