MAL : 58:24
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02@ MarketingAfrica MAL58 / 24 ISSUE Marketing Africa
On GMO Democracy
The institution of democracy is built on the premise that a government is formed in which the supreme power , while vested in the people , is exercised through a system of representation of elected leaders . The rule of law is a paramount pillar of democracy .
Democracy is cognizant of the fact that any power vested in an individual or a group of individuals has the tendency of degenerating into autocratic rule and therefore built-in elaborate safeguards to avoid abuse of power .
The ingenious solution to cure the tendency to abuse power was the creation of three equal but independent arms of the government to check and balance each other while each arm has a clear role in running the government .
One has to remember that the people cede power to their representatives to be governed as per an inviolable charter of the supreme law of the land that they accept and adopt , the constitution .
The legislature is of course the most important given that it is there that the people express their wishes on how they wish to be governed by electing credible men and women of character to represent them .
The legislature has the power to pass laws , establish the government budget , control taxation , confirm executive appointments and has the power to impeach and remove from office members of the executive and judiciary to redress people ’ s grievances .
The judiciary is mandated to deliver justice in accordance to the constitution and other laws and in this role it ’ s most important task is to interpret the law in accordance to the constitution and its application to real situations .
The executive which consists of the president and his advisors , departments and agencies is the actual face of the country . The executive runs the country as allowed by the constitution and enforces the laws of the land .
Some of the benefits of a democracy is that there is a fundamental respect for human dignity and that divergent views can be resolved peacefully . People have the right to act , write , speak and think freely so long as it does not stop others from doing the same .
Kenya ’ s version of democracy does not seem to hold that the freedom of speech is a fundamental tenet of democracy even though it is entrenched in our constitution given the recent surprising ruling by the supreme court .
The Kenyan apex court , the supreme court , in its wisdom has seen it fit to permanently bar the Grand Mullah and his agents from appearing before it because of his incessant disparaging remarks made against the institution and its judges .
Irrespective of what personal opinion one holds about the Grand Mullah , he happens to be a Kenyan citizen and the order , in effect a gag order , is meant to intimidate him and his ilk who are wont to criticize the judiciary of corruption and incompetence .