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He said regardless of where the vice exists in the government, it has continued to delay, derail and sabotage the progress and the potential of the country.
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The head of state noted that they are committed to fully addressing the problem which he said has continued to affect the potential of the country.
President William Ruto says he is ready for talks with Chief Justice Martha Koome to address alleged corruption in the judiciary.
“Mimi nataka nimwambie madam Chief Justice mimi niko tayari kwa hayo mazungumzo,” Ruto said Tuesday in Nandi.
He has, however, said the discussion will involve the leadership of the three arms of government.
“Mkutano kati ya executive mimi nikiongoza, judiciary ikiongozwa na Chief Justice and legislature led by the Speakers. I am ready for the conversation on how we are going to deal with vested interests, incompetence and corruption,” Ruto said.
He said regardless of where the vice exists in the government, it has continued to delay, derail and sabotage the progress and the potential of the country.
The head of state noted that they are committed to fully addressing the problem which he said has continued to affect the potential of the country.
He argued that the nation has continued to lag because of poor leadership, bad governance and corruption.
National Assembly majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah on his part told CJ Koome to fast-track the hearing and determination of all pending cases allegedly involving judicial offices.
He said Koome should not expect other petitions to be presented before the Judicial Service Commission when there are several others yet to be finalised.
“Please consider quickly the 50 or so cases that you said are at the preliminary evaluation, sort those and do not be in a rush, we shall be bringing more,” he said.
He also told the commission to avoid being in a rush to defend the judges without first hearing the cases presented before it.
“We want JSC to build confidence among Kenyans that they shall consider all the petitions brought before you without fear or favour,” he said.
Ruto’s statement comes a day after Koome revealed that the Judiciary has written to the President seeking an audience with the view to establishing the genesis of his complaints against the arm.
Whilst confirming that the President has not filed any complaint with the JSC, the CJ said the Judiciary is ready to interrogate the concerns the President has with the system.
“He might have received information because we have various machinery and agencies for collecting information and we would like to engage him so that he can give us that information," Koome said.
“So we will be looking out for that dialogue, we have written and I believe that the President is going to give us an appointment.”
She said judges are human and feel hurt when their names are dragged and publicly condemned as corrupt especially where no evidence has been presented.
Koome further explained that the Commission has in the last two financial years considered 85 disciplinary cases against judicial officers and staff.
The commission, she added, has also dismissed 71 judicial staff from the service while five were reinstated.
She said 49 cases are under preliminary evaluation by the commission.
She said three judges left the Judiciary in 2023.
"One judge opted to exit the service through early retirement instead of facing the tribunal," she said.
"Two judges were subjected to the tribunal process established by the Constitution and they have since been removed from the Judicial Service."