NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 4 – Chief Justice David Maraga has voiced concerns over what he now terms as attempts by the Executive to reduce judicial officers into puppets by denying the judiciary much needed funding.
Maraga told the media new austerity outlined by the National Treasury in a circular dated September 24 have brought most court operations to a halt, the most affected being Court of Appeal sittings outside Nairobi and mobile courts which he said were designed to serve inaccessible areas.
Court of Appeal stations in Nyeri, Nakuru and Mombasa, Maraga said, will not have scheduled sittings due cash constrains.
The Judiciary, according to the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), has had at least 50 per cent of its budget under the 2019/20 financial year retained slashing its recurrent and development budgets by Sh1.5 billion and Sh1.4 billion respectively.
“We have a huge backlog of cases which continue to pile because of lack of funds to even move judges around,” he said.
“Some judges are not able to get fuel for their cars and we are having to ask them to get money from their pockets so that we can refund them.”
READ: I will choose State functions to attend, Maraga says decrying humiliation by Executive
Maraga said the Judiciary needs about Sh5 billion annual infrastructure budget to establish court stations in each of the 290 constituencies in line with the judiciary transformation and expansion framework in the next 10 years.
“We should be given at least Sh5 billion every year for us to operate properly, or at least a reasonable amount,” he said.
The Chief Justice noted with concern the National Treasury’s decision to scrap all together its ICT budget affecting access to internet in court stations across the country.
“We are even unable to pay for Wi-Fi,” he said.
He laid plans to have digital courts in the Diaspora have been put on hold due to the unexpected budget cuts.
Chief Justice Maraga instructed the Chief Registrar of the judiciary to always present the budget estimates directly to the National Assembly rather than to the National Treasury.
The High Court on October 28 restrained Acting National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani from implementing austerity measures touching on the judiciary pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by LSK.
Maraga threated to boycott State functions citing frustrations by the Executive arm.
He told a press conference he will now be choosing functions he will attend accusing the Executive of undermining the Judiciary.
“The last Mashujaa Day, the CJ was allowed to walk to the dais through a sidewalk and the MC did not acknowledge his arrival despite doing it to other people,” he remarked.
“I’ve decided that unless I’m treated with dignity due to my office, I will choose which of those functions to attend.”
