The Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association(KMJA) has asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint the 41 judges nominated by the Judicial Service Commission(JSC).
While addressing the issue of the failure of the president to appoint the nominated judges, KMJA on Tuesday referred to the delay as an"affront of the Constitution that waters down the institutional independence of the Judiciary."
This year, the JSC appointed 41 members for the appointment by the President whereby 11 were to the Court of Appeal while 30 were to the Environment and Land Court and Labour Relations Court but the president is yet to appoint them.
"Regrettably four months down the road, the president has not appointed the nominees," KMJA said in a presser at the Milimani law courts.
According to Derric Kuto, the secretary general to KMJA, there are about 400,000 cases being filed per year against a diminishing number of judges and magistrates.
Further, he added that the backlog,cases older than one year, as of July 1, 2019, stands at 372,928 cases.
According to the association, the country currently has 644 magistrates and judges combined serving a population of 48 million people.
They have also blamed the small number of magistrates and judges for the slowing down of the administration of justice as cases now take longer in court.
The association has now called on Uhuru to stay true to his oath of office to uphold the Constitution by appointing the judges as nominated by JSC.
Early this month, Chief Justice David Maraga complained about budget cuts in the Judiciary.
He complained about being disrespected and said he would choose which state functions to attend.
A day after, the Judiciary's budget was restored.
