Chief Justice David Maraga has come out to lay bare the frustration his office and the entire Judiciary have been suffering at the hands of the Executive arm of government led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
A visibly angry Maraga, in a televised address to the nation from the foot of the Supreme Court in Nairobi on Monday, revealed an alleged secret plot by the Executive to remove him from office before December 31.
“Some CSs (Cabinet secretaries) are saying I will go before the year ends, kumbe hii Kenya ina wenyewe (apparently Kenya has real owners)?” Judge Maraga, who wore a wry smile intermittently, said.
He accused the National Treasury of unfairly targeting courts in its austerity measures as budgets for Parliament and the Executive keep growing.
Since 2014, the Judiciary budget has been shrinking and this year, it received a paltry 0.69 percent of the national budget.
“But as the Judiciary budget is declining, workload is rising,” he said as he issued an order to the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary.
“Moving forward, Judiciary budget estimates will be taken to Parliament and not Treasury We cannot continue begging for what belongs to us,” he said.
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