Judiciary braces for tough times amid budget reduction
Chief Justice David Maraga addresses Justice and Legal Affairs department members and other delegates during their induction retreat at Prideinn Paradise Beach Hotel, Mombasa, on January 26, 2018. The Judiciary has an inadequate budget. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The organisation review of the Judiciary has been completed and the report adopted by the Judicial Service Commission.
- Justice Maraga decried that Judiciary continues to face challenge of insufficient budget allocation.
The Judiciary is staring at a crisis with Chief Justice David Maraga warning of streamlining of functional structures and job titles following a reduction of its budget.
In a memo seen by the Saturday Nation, Chief Justice Maraga said there are anticipated changes, which even though might not lead to job losses, will involve streamlining some structures and job titles.
Mr Maraga said the organisation review of the Judiciary, which started on December 2016, has been completed and the report adopted by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
When contacted over the planned austerity measures following budget cuts, Judiciary Chief Registrar Anne Amadi referred us to the head of finance.
FUNDS ALLOCATION
During the state of the Judiciary address in December, Justice Maraga decried that Judiciary continues to face challenge of insufficient budget allocation, which he said has remained at an average of one per cent of the national budget over the past five years.
“Indeed, in this financial year, it slipped to 0.99 per cent. This falls below the internationally recommended Judiciary budget of 2.5 per cent of the national budget.
"Given our staff establishment of 5,619, our presence in every part of the country where we sit every single day, and our people-focused transformation agenda, we need a significant increment in our budget allocation,” he said.
JUDGES
During the last financial year, the JSC recruited the Chief Justice, his deputy Philomena Mwilu, 29 judges and 30 judicial officers and additional 297 judiciary staff.
More judges, especially at the Court of Appeal, need to be employed with only 19 judges presently serving at the country’s second highest court.
The appellate court, which has stations in Nyeri, Malindi, Kisumu and Nairobi, is planning to establish two more stations in Nakuru and Eldoret.
The Judiciary has been under attack since last September when it nullified the presidential election results.
All was not well in the corridors of justice after President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to “revisit” the ruling.
The judges of the apex court later dismissed a second presidential petition, challenging the October 26 poll outcome.
ELECTION PETITION
In January, Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju sent a hard-hitting letter to Justice Maraga, saying it was time for the Supreme Court to come clean on the judgment that overturned President Kenyatta’s win.
“If you examine the judgments that have been rendered by High Court judges regarding election petitions, there is a clear pattern: High Court judges have shelved the Supreme Court judgment of September 1 as a precedence.
Mr Tuju said the Supreme Court judges should examine their conscience and do an internal audit on how they ended with such a decision.
According to him, the judges should admit that their judgment was wrong.
