- Judges have been enjoying taxable car allowances until 2021 when it was scrapped by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
- Justice Lawrence Mugambi already referred the matter to Chief Justice Martha Koome to empanel a bench to hear the case.
Image: The Star
The High Court will today give directions on the hearing of a case in which a petitioner has challenged SRC's decision to scrap car allowance for judges.
Judges have been enjoying taxable car allowances until 2021 when it was scrapped by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
The commission said judges are already enjoying comfortable lifestyles by being entitled to official transport which is chauffeur-driven as part of their benefits package and the car grant would amount to double compensation from taxpayers' money.
Judges through the Kenya Judges Welfare Association have however supported the petition claiming that the car grant is a necessary benefit to help them in their duties and personal use.
The association’s president, Justice Kossy Bor, in her affidavit, swore that it is a facility judges have benefitted from since 2008 and that the decision by SRC to scrap it amounts to discrimination given that other state officers are enjoying the same.
“It is discriminatory against judges given that SRC has recognised existing car grants for members of the legislature, executive, independent offices and commission while purporting to cancel benefits due to judges,” Bor said.
But petitioner Peter Mwangi says the move is a threat to the independence of the Judiciary and also discriminatory as only the judges were singled.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi already referred the matter to Chief Justice Martha Koome to empanel a bench to hear the case.
Mugambi said the issues raised in the petition filed by Mwangi are weighty and should be handled by more than one judge.
“Looking at this petition, it is crystal clear that the heart of this petition is the constitutionality of the taxable car allowances for judges," Mugambi said.
"This is one of the protected constitutional features of judicial independence and there is a need to ascertain if the current situation over this matter is a potential threat to judicial independence in this country."
In his assessment, the judge said the issues raised in the petition are not mere questions of law but substantial issues that have not been expressly interrogated yet.
“They need to be conclusively settled to ensure consistency,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal will deliver its judgement in the case where Langata MP Felix Jalango challenge his removal from the ODM party.
At the same time, the magistrate's court will today issue directions in the case where Brian Mwenda is charged with being a fake lawyer.
At the Anti-Corruption court, the Sh2 billion graft case against former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his children and accomplices resumes today for hearing.