The Judiciary is appealing to Treasury to review upwards its allocation for handling anticipated election petitions after the August 8 polls.
The Judiciary says it had asked for Sh1.9 billion but received only Sh200 million, which is a paltry 10 per cent of the funds required.
"This is hardly enough and we have written to the Executive and Parliament giving our proposals," said High Court judge Msagha Mbogholi, who chairs the Judiciary Committee on Elections (JCE), yesterday.
Mr Mbogholi said the money was meant to facilitate the deployment and logistics of judicial officers who include judges, magistrates, researchers and court clerks to perform their various roles, especially those who will be assigned duties outside their work stations.
Limited resources
However, even with the limited resources, the judge said all the judges and magistrates handling election petitions had already been trained, with 92 magistrates handling cases under the Election Offences Act.
"The Judiciary Committee on Elections has trained all judges and magistrates who will be hearing election disputes. Alongside them, we have trained researchers," Mbogholi said during a breakfast meeting convened by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance under the banner 'Mkenya Daima' at a city hotel.
The forum was meant to have the Judiciary and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission brief the country on their preparedness for the elections.
Unlike in the past, disputes arising from elections must be concluded within six months in the magistrate's or High Court, and another six months in the Court of Appeal.
"Yes, we are ready. We can look Kenyans straight in the eye and tell them we shall resolve disputes within the timelines set by the law," he said. "We will try to have a lean team of judges handling non-election cases."
