Chief Justice David Maraga is admitting he is a worried man while leading the Judiciary.
Maraga opened up on Sunday exposing how the political class has slowly started suffocating his optimism that his tenure would see him revamp the country's judicial service systems.
In an interview, Maraga stated the Judiciary was now stack after parliament slashed their budget in this financial year.
[caption caption="Chief Justice David Maraga (PHOTO/COURTESY)"]
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"What has been allocated to us is grossly inadequate. We have been allocated for instance Kshs50 Million for development, what do you do with that? We are an arm of government spread throughout the country and we do not even know where to start," decried Maraga.
The CJ stated that though not so certain, the budgetary slash must have been politically motivated, given the drastic move was shocking.
"We have been getting at least Kshs 2.5 Billion for development and now it is just fifty million. I saw it in the media that they were to cut our budget and I thought they were joking, it has now happened and this is very interesting. Parliament must understand and tell the country whether or not they regard the Judiciary as important," stated Maraga.
Globally, it is recommended that the Judiciary gets at least 2.5 percent of the national budget and this was further backed by the judiciary's financial autonomy provisions in the Kenyan law.
The constitution provides that allocations to the Judiciary are channeled to the Judiciary Fund which is independently controlled.
The national treasury, Maraga says, delays releasing funds to the Judiciary even up to six months hampering their ability to absorb the funds. Here is the full interview:
[video:]
"There are delays in making the release of funds from the Treasury, at the end of the financial year, you have to surrender the money because of the kind of period we are given to work with. It is hardly six months. Like now, the budget was done by June but the money will be delayed," noted Maraga.
Apparently, the Chief Justice has been making numerous calls to the Treasury pleading for funds to be released. He indicated the delayed implementation and creation of the Judiciary Fund stiffens their operations. As stands, the Treasury is in control of the money allocated to the service.
"We have drawn the fund regulations to make the Judiciary fund running and they are with the Attorney General for tabling in Parliament. We are asking parliament to pass the regulations once they are tabled so that the funds are paid to the Judiciary. That way, the Judiciary will not be at the mercy of the national treasury cabinet secretary such that you have to call every day to get the resources," appealed the CJ.
Maraga fears that with the current state of affairs, the Judiciary can not stand on its own.
In recent days, CJ Maraga's claims his calls to the National Treasury go unanswered.
"You make a call, a Chief Justice is ringing the National Treasury and nobody is picking my calls. What else would be expected from us?" posed the CJ.
[caption caption="Chief Justice David Maraga (PHOTO/COURTESY)"]
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