The Judiciary, led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, now says that it is rushing against time to complete the construction of eight new courts worth over Kshs 500 million that have stalled.
Speaking before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, Judiciary Chief Registrar, Anne Amadi, explained that their efforts to finish the projects were hampered by financial constraints.
In her defence, Amadi adduced a number of factors to explain the challenges faced, including insufficient budgetary allocation and budget cuts. The Judiciary was allocated Ksh23 billion in the 2023/2024 financial year which was Ksh5 billion more than the Ksh18. 8 billion in the previous year.
She, however, noted that they were committed to completing the projects and were currently engaging contractors to review their rates and fast-track the projects.
Amadi was summoned by the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee to shed light on the status of the projects valued at Ksh505,496,669.
The committee chair, Suba MP John Mbadi, also sought her response to an audit report tabled at the parliamentary buildings on October 17, warning that the Judiciary was behind schedule.
Mbadi highlighted that some projects had been delayed for over seven years without evidence to ascertain the setbacks.
"Review of the project status reports and field inspections for various court stations revealed that the construction works for eight projects worth Kshs.505,496,668 had not been completed."
"In these circumstances, it was not possible to confirm whether the public will obtain value for money on the delayed construction of the projects," the MP cited an excerpt from the report.
Furthermore, the Judiciary was said to have grappled with recovering outstanding imprests from its officers, among them top judges, amounting to Kshs.14,180,234.
Amadi, however, noted that the outstanding imprest had been surrendered contrary to the audit report.
"By the time of the audit, the imprest were still outstanding, but I want to confirm to this committee that they have now been surrendered," she stated.
