Did bad blood with Executive influence Judiciary budget cut?

Irshard Sumra. [Photo/Standard]

Very few can deny that the draconian slashing of the judiciary’s budget from the expected Sh31.2 billion to Sh14.5 billion has nothing to do with the nasty past the arm of Government has had with the Executive.

But given the Judiciary has undergone numerous reforms under Chief Justice David Maraga and his able judges, magistrates and other Judicial Service Commission staff, it is not too much for them to get Sh31.2 billion to run their affairs.

 There are courts slated for construction and other major projects the Judiciary has in its vision to make the justice wheel run seamlessly.

You cannot compare what the Judiciary gets to, say, what Parliament and the presidency get, yet they are independent and equal branches of Government.

How a judge is treated in terms of allocation of resources and how an MP is treated also leaves much to be desired. The bad thing is that the common man will suffer most with the slashing of the Judiciary's budget, which may also lead to a crisis.

I appeal to the Budget committee in Parliament to urgently look into this matter because the Judiciary is a critical player in the nation’s growth. Let us keep sibling rivalry aside during allocation of funds to the three arms of Government.

If one arm fails, all the others will also go down. The Judiciary deserves more than the 17 billion given to them.

Mr Sumra is a former Embakasi South Member of Parliament