Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has attacked Chief Justice David Maraga after he protested the reduction of budgetary allocations to the Judiciary in the current financial year.
This comes after Maraga expressed his displeasure over the move by the Treasury to cut the budget by half, saying that the Sh14.5 billion allocated would not be enough.
The CJ further warned that most projects being undertaken by the Judiciary would be crippled.
“We are at a loss on what to do with the allocation as it is now, it means a number of projects especially on construction across the country will literally stop, affecting service delivery,” the CJ said.
Speaking on Friday during a fundraiser in Nyeri County, Kuria criticised Maraga's remarks accusing the courts of frustrating efforts by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to collect more revenue from tax defaulters.
"The Judiciary is reaping where it sowed, they kicked out efforts by Kenya Revenue Authority to collect taxes on several occasions, therefore where did they expect the funds to come from," the vocal MP said.
He cited the numerous cases where courts have dealt blows to plans by KRA to widen the tax net, giving an example of the recent case where a High Court in Nairobi temporarily suspended new rules to rope in manufacturers of non-alcoholic drinks and cosmetics.
However, Deputy President William Ruto has promised that the concerns raised by Maraga regarding the budget cut would be addressed.