Judges raise concern over Judiciary budgetary cut

The secretary general of the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association Derrick Kuto (4th left) addresses the press at the Supreme Court

Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association (KMJA) has raised concern over the budgetary cut.

Lead by their Secretary General Derrick Kuto they claim that the true Independence of the Judiciary is under serious threat.

Kuto said that the position of KMJA is that, for the independence to be realised, a fixed percentage of the National Budget every fiscal year, should be allocated to the Judiciary.

"We call upon the legislature and the Executive to urgently appreciate and correct this anomaly so that ‘Wanjiku’ "can effectively access justice without these roadblocks” Kuto said.

He added that they were before Kenyans on February 16, 2018 when there were heightened attacks on the Judiciary and judges.

The group claims that Article 173 of the Constitution creates the Judiciary fund. Section 3(c) of the Judiciary Fund Act provides that the objective of the Act is to provide for adequate funds to enable Judiciary deliver justice.

They claim that parliament has drastically slashed Sh31.2 billion budget for the year 2018/2019 which is meant to cater for the recurrent and development expenditure of the Judiciary.

Kuto said slashing of Judiciary budget means there will be no construction of new courts, old ones will not be expanded and mobile courts shall be suspended.

The move will hinder ‘wanjiku’ from accessing justice. The union was speaking from their office.