[Raw Speech]“Live and let live” CJ Maraga’s parting shot

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 17- SPEECH BY HON. DAVID K. MARAGA, CHIEF JUSTICE AND PRESIDENT OF THE SUPREME COURT OF KENYA, DURING THE ROTARY CLUB OF MOMBASA SESSION ON DECEMBER 16, 2020.

Thank you very much for inviting me to this function.

I appreciate your warmth as well as the honour and opportunity to share a few thoughts with you.

You have asked me to give you my parting shot as I exit the Judiciary.

 Though I am not quite sure what you expect me to tell you, I understand you to require of me my most cherished value in life. And that I can give you in a sentence and end my speech — my parting short is simple.

 It is “Live and let live” which, incidentally, is what I have found out to be the objective of the Rotary Club International.

When I accepted your Chairman’s request to speak to you, I went into the net to find out who Rotarians are so that I put my speech into context.

I found very interesting information reminding me that, irrespective of our religious affiliations, or no religion at all, we are after all humans; we are after all descendants of Adam; that we are all created with a conscious; that we are all social creatures who need each other for companionship and for livelihoods; that is to say, we have no choice but to live together. And for us to live together, we must be mindful of each other’s welfare.

Being mindful of each other’s welfare is what the Christians call the “Golden Rule” found in Mathew 7:12 and Luke 6:31—“Do unto other what you would want them to do unto you.”

Some, if not most of you, may not be Christians. You could be Muslims; Hindus; Buddhists; Judaists; or you could be among those who practise Folk religions.

Your Koran or Gita must be having the same principle as the Christian’s “Golden Rule” principle. I discovered from my research that this is your (Rotarians’) guiding principle.

My research revealed that the Rotary Club was an idea of an individual — Mr Paul Harris — an Attorney in Chicago who on February 23, 1905 thought of a get-together that would kindle fellowship among members of the business community. The rest is history that you know better than I do.

That get together has, over the years, metamorphosed into the present-day Rotary Club International whose main objective is “to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise.”

That is what defines the Rotary Clubs the world over — “an organization of business and professional person united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”

 Your objective is the “IDEAL OF SERVICE” and your motto is “Service Above Self”.

You can summarize all these in one word —“Integrity”.

Currently, the Rotary club comprises of over 1.2 million members of over 33,000 Rotary Clubs in over 200 countries.

My Church, the Seventh day-Adventists consists of over 12.4 million members also in more than 200 countries.

As 4 a matter of fact, there are 2.38 billion Christians translating to 31.1 per cent of the world population; 1.9 billion (24.9%) Muslims; 1.16 billion (15.2) Hindus; 506 million (6.6%); and 14 million (about 1%) Judaists in the world. People who practise Folk Religions are 429 million (5.6%) of the world population.

These are all religious people. People who believe in a merciful God. A God who wants His people to be people mindful of each other’s welfare.

These are all people who, in one version or the other, espouse the Christian “Golden Rule” principle of being mindful of each other’s welfare.

If that is the case, then why is there such discrimination and oppression in the world? Why are we literally sucking the blood of our fellow brothers and sisters? Why is the world so corrupt? The answer to these questions is simple.

The world does not practice what it professes it believes in.

The last time I checked, bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, tax evasion, cronyism and other forms of corruption were gobbling up a staggering $3.6 trillion every year, which translated to 5 per cent of the global gross domestic product.

The situation is particularly endemic in Africa where the plunder of public resources has ensured that, despite enormous natural resources such as gold, diamonds, copper and oil, hundreds of millions of Africans live below the poverty line and are ravaged by famine and disease.

In Kenya, although 80 per cent of its population is Christian with a fair percentage professing the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other faiths, with the connivance of technocrat “entrepreneurs” across all those faiths, more than one third of the Kenyan national budget is lost to corruption every year.

I believe in integrity as the guiding value in my life.

My position has not changed since I occupied the seat of the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya four years ago or even from when I joined the Judiciary almost 20 years ago: I strongly believe in submission to the will of God; I strongly believe in the necessity of integrity and ethics in public and private life; and I strongly believe in the need for unwavering faithfulness to the Constitution and the rule of law.

Please understand me. I am not by any means the paragon of virtue but I strive to live out my faith.

These beliefs encapsulate my opening shot, my parting shot and indeed my every shot. But perhaps I should open up a bit about the things that have, even as I strive to pursue these ideals relentlessly, either frustrated me or warmed my heart not just in my official capacity but as a Kenyan who loves his country deeply.

My first frustration is with my fellow countrymen and women due to our collective propensity for corruption.

Corruption has become like a stubborn virus running in our blood and in the air we breath. The sorry state of affairs in this country and the reason why those of us in leadership positions are unable to do anything about it is attributable to a number of factors. One, we are very selfish.

If something works well for us at the individual level, nothing else matters.

We will hold a mammoth political rally or a lavish birthday party for a loved one despite the risk of spreading COVID-19 to so many people.

You see, when I talk about corruption, I am not talking about merely stealing public funds, even though this remains a daunting challenge for Kenya. Any form of dishonesty amounts to corruption, including anything that gives you an undue benefit – including jumping the queue at the bank or driving on the pavement to beat the traffic.

Those who are not corrupt have sat back joyfully and don’t want to be concerned with what is happening or think there is nothing they can do about it.