Two months after President William Ruto pledged Ksh 2 billion in funding to the Judiciary, Chief Justice (CJ) Martha Koome decried inadequate finances .
Speaking in Meru on Monday, February 27, Koome implored Ruto to honour his pledge on increasing Judiciary funding noting that they were grappling with a backlog of cases while some judicial officers were being forced to work in shifts.
“We are climbing a mountain as a Judiciary and we are here at the bottom. With the support of everybody, including the President who pledged that all he can do is strengthen the judiciary by giving us whatever is required for us to enhance our operations” she stated.
The CJ lamented that the judiciary had been neglected for a long time, with some judicial officers working under deplorable conditions.
Additionally, she decried the slow pace at which the Meru Court of Appeal was being constructed, imploring that she would get involved in the project.
“The Meru infrastructure was built a long time ago, probably in the 1940s. The contractor had better be there working because we needed it like yesterday,
Even if it means wearing overalls and coming to supervise the construction because I cannot sit back and watch my officers work in such indignity to hear cases,” she affirmed.
During her visit, Koome was perturbed to find a magistrate operating from a container stating that it painted a bad picture in a county ranked as seventh in contribution to GDP
“We made a prayer with the Meru Governor (Kawira Mwangaza) and asked God to take away this spirit of poverty,
We do not want this mentality of poverty. Why would the judiciary bring something like that and have judicial officers sitting in a place like that?” she regretted.
After his inauguration, Ruto committed to funding the Judiciary to ensure they construct the necessary infrastructure needed.
“The additional funding will support the recruitment of judges, judicial officers and critical cadres of judicial staff to increase the human resource complement to at least 80 per cent of the approved establishment,” Ruto affirmed.
Some of the funds would also go towards reviewing terms and conditions of service for judicial staff and the establishment and construction of courts in counties and sub-counties to promote access to justice for every Kenyan.
Ruto hailed the Judiciary for being steadfast in dispensing justice, especially the Supreme Court which determined a presidential petition that was seeking to nullify his victory in the August 9 2022 elections.
