Judiciary woes deepen as funds on steady cut

In October, an agreement between the Judiciary and the World Bank for financing of development projects will come to an end.

This will spell doom for the justice docket as Parliament has all but confirmed that taxpayers will not be picking up the tab, at least not in the next fiscal year.

While discussing the 2020/21 budget last Thursday, the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) admitted that the lapse of the World Bank deal will stall a majority of the Judiciary’s projects, but still went ahead to slash the development budget by Sh1.7 billion.

ALLOCATION REDUCTIONS

And when Mr Ukur Yatani reads his first budget as Treasury Cabinet secretary on Thursday, it is likely to set him on a collision course with the Judiciary, just as has been the case with his predecessors, following allocation reductions to a docket that has perennially cried foul over the process.

Read: AG tears into David Maraga

The BAC has approved an allocation of Sh18.05 billion to the Judiciary for the 2020/21 financial year, a drop of Sh1.35 billion from the current fiscal year.

Interestingly, the High Court in March issued a temporary order barring the National Treasury from slashing the Judiciary’s budget until a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya is determined.

Justice James Makau ruled that “pending the hearing and determination of this case, an order is hereby issued restraining the National Treasury, its agents, officers or any persons from implementing a September 24 circular or issuing any unwarranted directive with the same effect on the Judiciary’s budget”.

The advocates’ lobby argued that any further budget cuts could interfere with the Judiciary’s independence.

Much like in past years, the budget cuts will likely spark a war of words between the Executive and the Judiciary, two arms of government that appear to be unable to foster cordial working relations.

STAFF ALLOWANCES

The new fiscal year’s allocation will see the Judiciary receive Sh14.773 billion for operation costs for existing court facilities, salaries and allowances for staff.

The amount is the same as last year’s and could also be a firm statement by the BAC that there will be no hiring of more judges in the next financial year, unless the docket’s finances are reviewed later in the year.

The High Court in Nyeri has already stopped providing tea and newspapers to staff, including judges and magistrates, as a cost-cutting measure.

Last year, the Judiciary also halted its mobile courts project, citing cutting of its budget.

The cutback will likely hamper plans by the Judiciary to have at least one court in every constituency.

Chief Justice David Maraga and President Uhuru Kenyatta are embroiled in a verbal war over the appointment of 41 judges who were nominated by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) last year.

Justice Maraga on Monday criticised President Kenyatta for violating court orders by refusing to appoint the 41 judges, arguing that there is a huge under-staffing problem that has stalled over 20,000 court cases.

Should President Kenyatta bow to pressure and appoint the 41 judges, the Judiciary will have to either adjust its spending or request for additional funds from the National Treasury for their salaries and allowances.

MASSIVE JOB CUTS

Alternatively, the Judiciary could embark on massive job cuts in other departments to sustain salaries of the new judges alongside those already at work.

Another Sh2.701 billion has been reserved for development.

This means that the Judiciary will have to either evenly spread out peanuts to the more than 70 court construction and renovation projects – a seemingly impossible task – or leave some developments hanging.

Another alternative will be to seek help from donors, but his may also prove to be an uphill task owing to the global economic crisis fuelled by coronavirus pandemic.