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Uhuru barred from slashing Judiciary budget

By Amina Wako October 29th, 2019 1 min read

The High Court has barred President Uhuru Kenyatta from executing budget cut for Judiciary until a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) is heard and determined.

It further ordered National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani to release funds immediately as allocated by the National Assembly.

Last month, the National Treasury cut down Judiciary’s budget by Sh3 billion, citing revenue shortfalls and the need to raise funds for President Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.

It also squeezed Sh131 billion from different Government agencies.

The Judiciary had requested Sh31.2 billion, but Parliament allocated it Sh14.5 billion, which the National Treasury has now slashed to Sh11.5 billion.

SERVICE DELIVERY

A statement issued by Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Commissioner Machari Njeru stated that cutting down the budget will grind its operations and cripple service delivery to Kenyans.

As of Monday, the Judiciary had put up notices in some stations indicating suspension of Mobile court services while some cases were transferred to other operational courts.

Justice James Makau has directed the JSC to provides a detailed report disclosing how the proposed budget cut would affect access and administration of justice.