Senior Counsel and Constitutional Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has staunchly opposed the proposed reduction of the judiciary budget amidst his ongoing row with the Supreme Court.
Expressing his dissent, Ahmednasir challenges the notion put forth by Mogotio Member of Parliament, Reuben Kiborek, who suggested that the National Assembly might consider cutting the judiciary budget in response to its opposition to government plans.
Ahmednasir asserted that such a move is misguided, advocating instead for an increased allocation of funds from both the legislative and executive branches to support the judiciary.
“Cutting the judiciary budget is the wrong move. In fact, the judiciary needs more money and resources. But we need a judiciary that doesn’t waste its meager resources on bonding trips to Watamu, as does the Supreme Court of Kenya. We also need reformist leadership for the judiciary, too,” he took to his X account.
Making his remarks in Nyakach, Kisumu County, Kiborek said the National Assembly would use its budget allocation powers to punish the judiciary for opposing the government agenda.
He cited the Social Insurance Health Fund and the Housing Levy, arguing that the judges ruled against the two bills without considering the poor Kenyans who cannot afford medical costs and decent houses.
This loosely translates to “We also have power as MPs to prepare the budget; I want to ask the budget chair committee that in the next budget we should slash the whole judiciary allocation if it fails to behave.”
This comes at a time when President William Ruto and the legislature have promised to increase budgetary allocations to the judiciary. In a meeting on January 22, the executive and the legislature agreed to support the judiciary’s request for additional budgetary support to ensure efficient service delivery and the fight against corruption.
The additional budgetary support is to facilitate the recruitment of an additional 25 judges of the High Court and 11 new judges of the Court of Appeal.
