Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga has said that the Judiciary will continue to uphold the rule of law without fear of bias, but expressed concern over the reduction of its budget.
Addressing a press conference at the Supreme Court on Sunday, Dr Mutunga responded to various attacks launched against the Judiciary in the past two weeks.
On February 20, the Senate and the National Assembly lined up plans that could jeopardise the Judiciary and county governments.
At a joint press conference at Parliament Buildings, the heads of the two Houses accused the Judiciary of “assisting impunity, corruption, theft and the irresponsible use of public resources”.
The National Assembly suggested radical cuts to the Judiciary’s budget for the coming financial year.
On Sunday, Dr Mutunga said regarding the budget: "We shall scale our operations - down or up - according to the resources allocated to us."
"Allocations to the Judiciary are not for the comfort of judges and magistrates but to fund access to justice for the Kenyan mwananchi. Withholding money for court construction or operations not only frustrates judicial officers and staff, but ultimately hurts the individual court user most."
The Chief Justice noted the difference in the budgets of Parliament and the Judiciary, saying: "The Judiciary is in every other district in this country, with court stations spread across all counties and in constitutionally mandated to establish a High Court in every county. It has nearly 5,000 employees. The courts sit every day of the week serving wananchi and has an annual budget of Sh16 billion. Contrast that with Parliament, which has fewer than 2,000 employees including MPs, is only based in Nairobi and sits only three days in a week [and] has a budget of Sh20 billion."
Dr Mutunga said,"Neither the Chief Justice nor the Judicial Service Commission has any power to tell judges what to decide. Doing so would be corrupt, immoral and unconstitutional," adding: "If anyone thinks that the Judiciary will cower in fear because of insults and threats, I am afraid they are very mistaken."
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