• Maraga said the Judiciary is being treated with contempt.
• He said moving forward, Judiciary budget estimates will be taken to Parliament and not Treasury.
Image: THE STAR
Buying luxury cars is only considered wastage of public funds when it concerns the Judiciary, Chief Justice David Maraga has said.
"The Chief Justice has no Mercedes then we were told it's wastage," he said on Monday.
Speaking in Nairobi on Monday, an angry Maraga said he has been disrespected for far too long.
"The CJ has no Mercedes car, we were told its wastage yet the two Speakers of the National Assembly have them. I have a Mercedes 350, which is affordable to many while speakers of both houses have Mercedes 500," he said.
"I have never owned a Mercedes myself and I am not bothered. Let the office be treated like the speakers, and Uhuru's office. We should not be taken to be like illegitimate children."
A tough talking Maraga said the Judiciary is being treated with contempt, adding that he is a human being.
"CSs and PSs are cleared to enter at the JKIA before the CJ. Some CSs are saying I will go before the year ends, kumbe hii Kenya ina wenyewe (do you mean to say Kenya has its owners)? I don't serve under the mercy of anybody," he said.
“They are trying to control the Judiciary. They want to make us puppets. Government can’t not lead with impunity. It should respect court decisions."
NO MORE TREASURY
Maraga said moving forward, Judiciary budget estimates will be taken to Parliament and not Treasury.
This was after the government said it would cut its budget.
Maraga instructed the Chief Registrar not take budget estimates to the Treasury from 2020.
"When we go the National Assembly, we will tell them that we need such an amount to build courts," he said.
Maraga said they are supposed to be taken to the National Assembly, adding that from there they get justice.
"I want to let the public know that we are unable to provide some services. Operations of the mobile courts have been grounded to a halt," Maraga said.
"As the Judiciary budget is dwindling, the workload is growing. The backlog will continue to pile up. We also have challenges in Treasury releases of what we are allocated. The IFMIS system was opened for a very short time," he said.