Activist goes to court over Judiciary budget cuts

An activist has moved to court to protest against drastic cuts in budgetary allocations to the Judiciary and other public institutions.

Mr Adrian Kamotho has sued the National Assembly for allocating huge budgets to institutions with fewer functions such as the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Attorney-General and the Controller of Budget are listed as interested parties in the suit.

PARTICIPATION

According to the lawyer, the budget allocated to courts is "unrealistic and unlawful".

Mr Kamotho faults the Budget and Appropriations Committee for not consulting the public when making decisions.

He terms the National Assembly’s move as one that maliciously denies the Judiciary necessary funds while allocating a lavish amount to the Parliamentary Service Commission.

He argues that the PSC has fewer constitutional functions yet it has been allocated Sh14.974 billion while the JSC granted Sh14.5 billion only.

"The National Assembly has treated the budget of the Judiciary with utmost casualness, extreme disdain and excruciating contempt," he argues.

WITHDRAWALS

He adds: "In view of its procedural infractions and constitutional defects, the Appropriations Act, 2018 is a sham and amounts to abuse of legislative authority by the National Assembly."

He therefore wants the High Court to temporarily block the Controller of Budget from approving withdrawals that exceed 50 per cent of public institutions’ operations budgets from the Consolidated Fund.

The case comes a day after MPs and Deputy President William Ruto pledged to relook at the issue.