Chief Justice David Maraga has bashed Members of Parliament after it emerged that the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, mandated with oversight of the Judiciary and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), is pushing to slap the courts with a Sh200Million reduction of its budget.
This is after committee chairman Samwel Chepkonga said the Judiciary must be “made to pay for their inordinate” decisions, referring to the extension of the voter registration exercise.
The IEBC had set February 14 as the last date, but Justice Chacha Mwita extended the deadline by five days to February 19 after a successful petition by activist Okiya Omtatah.
Speaking during the closing of the second annual legislative summit in Mombasa, Maraga stated that slashing the budget will only be a punishment to the electorate and will cripple judicial processes.
"Who do you want to punish? It is your people. You will hamper delivery of justice," he stated.
Maraga also rebuked politicians for frustrating efforts of the Judiciary whenever it issued orders against the national and county assemblies.
He also revealed that cases filed against county assemblies are always prioritised by the courts so that services are not disrupted.
The CJ also touched on the forthcoming general elections saying cases of hatespeech would be dealt with accordingly.
He urged the National Cohesion and Integration Committee chairman Francis Ole Kaparo to ensure evidence is gathered to build strong cases against those found guilty since judges are always blamed for rulings they make yet most of the time the cases lack proper evidence.
