Chief Justice Martha Koome has decried reduced funding for the judiciary, which she says has been cut by nearly 50% in the last three financial years, terming it an impediment to the administration of justice.

The CJ highlighted the judiciary’s achievements in the past year saying the judiciary has registered an upward trajectory in the administration of justice achieving an impressive 99% case clearance rate, despite the crippling budgetary constraints.

She spoke during the launch of the State of the Judiciary and the Administration of Justice Report 2023/24 at the Milimani Law Courts.

"We are doing our very best with very little resources to the judiciary to see to it that every year, although we celebrate these gains, we recognize the pressing need for further investment. The judiciary continues to face funding challenges owing to historic underfunding in the justice sector," said Koome.

CJ Koome says funding has consistently fallen short by nearly 50% for the past three financial years, limiting the judiciary's capacity to meet the expanding demands of the institution.

She stated that the judiciary received Ksh.22.42 billion of the required budget of Ksh.43.17 billion. Stakeholders have warned against these budget gaps, saying they compromise the independence of court decisions.

"It’s also on this tenet that I continue to raise concern over the underfunding of the judiciary and their need to have a fully-fledged, optimized fund to ensure independence," LSK President Faith Odhiambo noted.

Koome added, "The Court of Appeal has only 29 judges out of the required 70. We tried recruiting last year, but because of the budgetary cuts, we have not been able to recruit."

The Clerk of the National Assembly, Samuel Njoroge, representing the speakers from both houses of Parliament, pledged Parliament’s support in implementing the recommendations contained in the State of the Judiciary and the Administration of Justice Report. The pledge, however, came as part of a speech with subtle hints.

"We’ll continue being your partner and talk to whoever we need to talk to, to ensure that the judiciary will not be subject to the planned budget cuts. We also ask you to be nice to us too… nobody is independent; we are one," he said.