Zumo News

President William Ruto has come out to address accusations levelled against him of trying to wield his power to influence the operations of the Judiciary.

The criticism, which comes mainly from Azimio La Umoja leader Raila Odinga, began after Ruto appointed the six judges that were rejected by his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, immediately after assuming office in September.

At the time, Odinga dismissed the appointments as a ploy to control the Judiciary. He also took issue with the president’s promise to increase the Judiciary fund by Ksh.3 billion every year, saying the Head of State was tampering with its independence.

Ruto critics have also questioned his presence at many Judiciary functions since assuming office, the latest ones being the launch of the annual state of the Judiciary report last month and Monday’s release of the Administration of Justice Report by Chief Justice Martha Koome.

During the event held at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, the president said he has not tried in any way to influence Judiciary’s affairs, adding that his presence is to support the government arm to carry out its mandates.

“I know there is a discussion as to why I am appearing in too many functions of the Judiciary. They can confirm to you that I have never put a telephone call to anybody to ask them to do anything,” said Ruto.

“My support for the Judiciary is so that they can effectively deliver justice to the people of Kenya, period.”

At the same time, Ruto assured CJ Koome that the four incomplete Small Claims Courts in Nairobi will be ready for operation in 90 days.

The president noted that he is aware of the big role played by the Small Claims Courts in the administration of justice, adding that his administration will facilitate the project in spite of current budgetary constraints.

He further expressed his goodwill to the judicial arm of the government and commended the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) on what he called a diligent execution of the council’s strategic plan.

“I congratulate the NCAJ for your fine achievements. I note that this has been made possible, to a great extent, by the diligent execution of your strategic plan. I, therefore, commend you and wish you great success as you implement it,” said Ruto.

During his inaugural speech at Kasarani stadium on September 13, President Ruto explained that his intention to scale up the Judiciary budgetary allocation in his first term was aimed at increasing the independence of public offices in line with his manifesto.

He also said the funds would empower the Judiciary to smoothen its operations and to set up more courts at the counties and sub-counties levels.

“My administration will scale up the budgetary allocation to the Judiciary by an additional Ksh.3 billion annually for the next 5 years. These resources will support the bottom-up scaling of justice by increasing the number of small claims courts from the current 25 to 100,” he said then.

“We will also work with the Judiciary to build High Courts in the remaining 7 counties, magistrates courts in the remaining 123 sub-counties and support their ongoing digitisation program.”