Troubles begin as Chief Justice MARTHA KOOME accuses RUTO of sabotaging the Judiciary even after helping him to ‘rig’ RAILA in the last election

 

Wednesday, October 18, 2023 – Chief Justice Martha Koome’s Judiciary has laid blame on President William Ruto’s Executive for the stalled court projects worth Sh500 million.

Speaking before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday, Koome, through Judiciary Chief Registrar, Anne Amadi, revealed the projects have stalled because Ruto has not given them sufficient funds.

However, she noted that the Judiciary is rushing against time to complete the construction of the stalled eight new courts.

In her defence, Amadi adduced a number of factors to explain the challenges faced, including insufficient budgetary allocation and budget cuts. 

This comes even after Ruto allocated Judiciary Ksh23 billion in the 2023/2024 financial year which was Ksh5 billion more than the Ksh18. 8 billion in the previous year.

Amadi was summoned by the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee to shed light on the status of the projects valued at Ksh505,496,669. 

The committee chair, Suba MP John Mbadi, also sought her response to an audit report tabled at the parliamentary buildings on October 17, warning that the Judiciary was behind schedule. 

Mbadi highlighted that some projects had been delayed for over seven years without evidence to ascertain the setbacks. 

Furthermore, the Judiciary was said to have grappled with recovering outstanding imprests from its officers, among them top judges, amounting to Kshs.14,180,234.

Amadi, however, noted that the outstanding imprest had been surrendered contrary to the audit report.