CJ Koome: This is how underfunding of the judiciary affects Kenyans
Martha Koome is an advocate who currently serves as the Chief Justice of Kenya.
Chief Justice Martha Koome has decried inadequate funds allocated to the judiciary every year, saying the underfunding limits its capacity to meet the demands of the institution.
Justice Koome pointed out that the judiciary continues to face funding challenges owing to historical chronic underfunding of the justice sector.
She said that for the past three financial years, the funding has consistently fallen short by nearly 50 percent, limiting the judiciary’s capacity to meet the expanding demands.
“In the past financial year, we received only Sh22.42 billion, significantly below the required budget of Sh43.17 billion. This funding gap restricts our ability to expand infrastructure, enhance security, and support the wellness of our judicial personnel,” the CJ said.
She called on the legislature and the executive to recognise the needs of the judiciary and allocate additional resources necessary to support its optimal operation.
“This funding gap restricts our ability to realise the constitutional promise of social transformation through access to justice,” she said.
According to Justice Koome, the psychological impact of adjudicating distressing cases necessitates comprehensive wellness programmes to support the judicial personnel.
She said ensuring the safety, security, and wellbeing of the personnel was paramount to maintaining the effective functioning of the judiciary.
The CJ was speaking at the Milimani Law Courts on Friday during the presentation of the State of the Judiciary and the Administration of Justice Report 2023/24.
In July, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) suspended all pending recruitments, including the much-awaited hiring of 11 judges of the Court of Appeal after the Treasury restricted its expenditure to 15 percent of the appropriated budget.
Then, Justice Koome said the circular from the treasury limited expenditure to only critical and essential services.
“This directive has far-reaching consequences on the operations of the judiciary and the JSC. In this regard, we are compelled to make major adjustments to planned programmes and activities,” Justice Koome said.
The judiciary had been allocated Sh24 billion in the national budget that was read by former Treasury CS Prof Njuguna Ndung’u on June 13, an increase from the Sh23.2 billion allocated in the 2023-24 financial year.
Youth-led protests forced the government to announce drastic changes after President William Ruto was forced to withdraw the Finance Bill, 2024.
Judiciary performance
Justice Koome noted that there were substantial improvements in the judiciary’s performance and service delivery despite the chronic underfunding of the justice sector.
She pointed out that the case clearance rate had reached an impressive 99 per cent, with 516,121 filed, compared to 509,664 resolved in the last financial year.
Justice Koome said that there had been a marked improvement in reducing pending cases, which dropped by 2.16 percent from 649,342 to 635,262.
“Our case backlog reduced by 10 percent, with the Employment and Labour Relations Court, Environment and Land Court, Tribunals, and Kadhis’ Courts leading the way in backlog reduction by 37 per cent, 20 per cent, 29 per cent, and 82 per cent respectively,” CJ Koome said.
Justice Koome noted that each case resolved was not merely a number but represents justice delivered to Kenyans, affirming their trust in the judicial system.
She added that the decrease in pending cases was a testament of the judiciary’s commitment to tackling case backlog and ensuring timely resolution of disputes.
“This achievement speaks to the determination and hard-work of our Judges and Judicial officers, who, despite operating under resource constraints, have managed to deliver these impressive results. Each case resolved is not merely a number but represents justice delivered to Kenyans, affirming their trust in our judicial system,” said CJ Koome.
Further, the Chief Justice indicated that the judiciary extended the High Court’s presence to 46 out of 47 counties, established 27 Small Claims Courts across the country and operationalised 57 mobile courts thereby reducing the average distance to court services to 80 kilometres.
“These initiatives reflect our ongoing commitment to delivering justice that is not only timely and efficient but also inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of Kenyans across the country,” she said.
Justice Koome explained that the judiciary had leveraged technology to revolutionise justice delivery and invested in ICT infrastructure to bolster the reliability of the judiciary’s digital platforms.
“E-filing is now fully implemented in all our court stations, allowing court users to file cases online, enhancing file security, and eliminating the longstanding challenge of lost physical files,” the CJ said.
She noted that the judiciary had initiated transcription services in courts across the country with the aim of producing case transcripts within 72 hours.
The CJ said this will help streamline court proceedings, improve record accuracy, and accelerate the delivery of justice.
“Under our Mahakama Digitisation Programme, we scanned over 325,000 court files, making record retrieval more efficient and ensuring the secure storage of court records,” she said.
She added that two tribunals, namely the Capital Markets Tribunal and the National Examinations Appeals Tribunal, have been moved from the executive to the judiciary, bringing the total number of tribunals operating under the judiciary to 26.
