Chief Justice David Maraga on Thursday, August 6, raised the issue of the retirement benefits of judicial officers, a day after MPs passed a Ksh100,000 monthly pension for retired members.
While presiding over the launch of the Judiciary Performance Management & Measurement Understandings Evaluation Report 2018/19 at the Supreme Court buildings, the CJ stated that judges deserved better packages so as to retire in dignity.
"We raised a few issues that we have agreed we are going to discuss. We do not want to see retired judges on the streets looking haggard, they should have the dignity as they move out of their offices, and that is something we’re going to look at," he stated.
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Maraga urged the National Assembly Budget Committee chairman Kanini Kega to ensure the Judiciary was allocated a budget to caters to its functions.
“It is your duty as Budget Committee of Parliament to look at each institution and critically think about the role it is playing in the affairs of this nation. Bear in mind that the Judiciary is an arm of government and resource it reasonably," he stated.
The CJ stated that the newly-launched e-filing system would collapse without efficient financial support.
The Kieni MP, on his part, assured to look into the Judiciary budget issue stating "As your 'ambassador', I will make sure nothing happens to you."
This came a day after MPs passed an amendment in the National Assembly’s retirement benefits law that will see retired MPs get a Ksh100,000 monthly pension for life.
The amendment is set to only apply to MPs who served between 1984 and 2001 and will see their monthly pension rise from the current Ksh33,000.
The MPs are now seeking to further amend the Parliamentary Pension’s Act to ensure they will continue enjoying full medical cover even after they are voted out of office.
An analysis of budget records shows the government has been spending at least Ksh1 billion annually for the upkeep of retired VIPs including retired presidents and vice-presidents.
On the other hand, the Judiciary has been suffering from budgetary cuts and delayed funding, which has affected the completion of different projects such as the construction of court buildings.
Chief Judiciary Registrar Anne Amadi stated that the costs associated with the stalling of projects would be incurred by the taxpayers.
CJ Maraga has on several occasions decried budget cuts by the Executive stating that the adjustments by the National Treasury crippled operations in courts across the country.
In an outburst in November 2019, the CJ revealed that he was struggling with footing various bills including WiFi.
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