- Ruto recommended the Judiciary for doing a great job amid such tremendous challenges.
- Last month, he hailed the Judiciary for being steadfast in dispensing justice, saying it should not be underfunded.
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
The Kenya Kwanza government has promised to increase the annual Judiciary budget by Sh3 billion annually.
President William Ruto said the budget will help construct the necessary infrastructure needed.
“We have committed to increasing it (budget) by Sh3 billion to make sure we also hire the requisite number of staff and build ICT facilities so that our Judiciary can deliver its mandate,” he said.
Ruto spoke during the launch of the Annual State of the Judiciary Report on Friday.
The report named insufficient funding as one of the challenges.
In its recommendations, the report said parliament should amend the law (PFM Act) to guarantee the Judiciary at least 2.5 per cent of the national budget to safeguard the financial autonomy of the Judiciary as envisaged in the Constitution.
“The additional funding will support the recruitment of judges, judicial officers and critical cadres of judicial staff to increase the human resource complement to at least 80 per cent of the approved establishment,” Ruto said.
Some of the funds will also go towards implementing the revised terms and conditions of service for judicial officers, reviewing terms and conditions of Service for judicial staff and also the establishment and construction of courts in counties and subcounties.
Ruto recommended the Judiciary for doing a great job amid such tremendous challenges.
Last month, he hailed the Judiciary for being steadfast in dispensing justice, saying it should not be underfunded.
“To consolidate the place of the judiciary in our constitutional and democratic dispensation, my administration will respect judicial decisions while we cement the place of Kenya as a country anchored on democracy and the rule of law,” he said.
“Our campaign for the financial independence of the judiciary has paid off with the implementation of the judiciary fund on July 1. My administration will scale up the budgetary allocation to the judiciary for the next five years.”
The President singled out the Supreme Court which determined a presidential petition that was seeking to nullify his election victory, saying the seven-judge bench demonstrated unmatched independence.
He said his government will continue respecting court decisions.