National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has accused the judiciary of playing politics at the expense of service delivery.
While responding to claims on budget cuts for the Judiciary during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Duale dismissed the same noting that Parliament has not instigated such an alleged move.
He said that the Judiciary has resolved to play games with the lives of Kenyans seeking justice.
“No money of parliament has been reduced. The Judiciary is trying to play politics. Slashing of budget is normal,” Duale said as quoted in a tweet by Citizen TV.
There have been fears that a budget cut might cripple services at the Judiciary with Commissioner Macharia Njeru of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) asking the government to reinstate the Judiciary budget.
Njeru argued that the Judiciary would not be in a position to deliver following the reduction in its annual budget.
He said the administration of justice is critical in a nation that wants to grow its economy. He also noted that the scarcity of resources is among the reasons cases at this arm of the government have been lagging behind.
“This is unacceptable coming against a backdrop of the backlog of cases that the Judiciary is grappling with,” said Njeru as quoted by KBC.
He also said that the budget cut is not good news to lawyers as well, adding that the government should reconsider its stand on the same.
According to Njeru, a budget cut undermines the country’s prospects of having a robust, dependable judiciary for the people of Kenya.