The machinery of government runs on money. It is that simple and that complex. Money is never enough. Money is especially never enough when by Government's own estimates fully one-third is "diverted" to non-government-related purposes, profitable though those purposes often are. To address the paucity of money in the national treasury, some monies are "ring-fenced" - they are not to be expended for anything other than for that which they have been appropriated. In government, ring-fenced funds are those drawn directly from the Consolidated Fund - funds for the judiciary are just the most prominent at present.
In the judiciary, money greases the wheels of justice and I do not mean by way of bribes and whatnot. Money pays for courthouses and specialised courtrooms. Money pays for administrative support. Money pays for the movement of circuit court judges. Money pays for mobile courts. Money pays for digitisation and creation of electronic case management systems. Money pays for the operations of specialised tribunals - like the National Environment Tribunal that hears appeals against the decisions of NEMA that affect, for example, Uhuru Park if and when the elevated expressway is ever built. Heck, money pays for Wi-Fi! Without money, a substantial chunk of judicial work will not be done or if done, will not be done effectively.
I have nothing but sympathy for Chief Justice Maraga and his Judiciary. He is in an unenviable position. Ever since the members of his Supreme Court were called "wakora" and promised that its most consequential political decision would be "revisited", it was a matter of when, not if, he and his judicial officers would walk the gauntlet. The "when" is today. The reason advanced by the beancounters in the treasury is that austerity is going to be across the board. The perception is different. Few Kenyans believe the treasury when it says that it is not playing politics. Many Kenyans are convinced that the national executive has finally let loose the dogs of war and the judiciary is facing the music.
There are those in the national executive who have taken advantage of the parlous state of the national treasury to settle imagined scores with the Chief Justice. There is no justifiable reason for the chickenshit accusations levelled at the Chief Justice. What would ever possess the human responsible for government protocol to ignore the presence of the CJ at a state function? Which moron directed the Kenya Airports Authority to lock out the CJ from the VIP lounges at our airports? For fcks sake, why would anyone invite the man to State House, specify the date and time for the appointment, and on the appointed hour keep him sitting in the lobby like a supplicant waiting for favours from on high?
Now it is entirely possible that there is a cadre of serikali mandarins who think that judicial officers exist to smooth over the rough bits of tenderpreneurship, them being the bigger tenderpreneurs, including the placing of thumbs in the scales of just in favour of these human scuzzballs. To them it is unfathomable that a Chief Justice will not lift up the phone and direct a magistrate in Kapchorwa to allow a suit on favour of this [pro-government] side or the other. My ears are still ringing from all the screeching that occurred when the National Environment Tribunal ruled that the Environmental Impact Assessment granted to the builders of the new Mombasa - Nairobi railway was flawed when it permitted the railway to go through portions of the Nairobi National Park. Come to think of it - the crippling of the Tribunal was the first successful shot against the judiciary. But we must bear in mind, the serikali-friendly tenderpreneurs must bear n mind, that this situation is untenable. If they successfully emasculate the judiciary, it is not Chief Justice Maraga and his judicial officers who will suffer but everyone. When we lose what little faith we have in the administration of justice, we will take the law into our own hands. Violence, in this instance, is inevitable.
We need the decisional and financial independence of the judiciary to be safeguarded but we must also be realistic. We are in a bit of a fiscal pickle and if there are to be cuts, the cuts must be applicable against everyone - parliamentarians, members of the Cabinet, county governments, and not just the judiciary. If you are going to insist that Mr Chief Justice Maraga should ride in a puny 1200cc Jetta, so too must Mr Non-Carcinogenic Wheelbarrow and JB himself in Bunge. If Wajir Law Courts have to do without Wi-Fi, so too can the Minister of Congratulations. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Whether sanity will prevail...anyway, cha muhimu ni aliveness.
There are those in the national executive who have taken advantage of the parlous state of the national treasury to settle imagined scores with the Chief Justice. There is no justifiable reason for the chickenshit accusations levelled at the Chief Justice. What would ever possess the human responsible for government protocol to ignore the presence of the CJ at a state function? Which moron directed the Kenya Airports Authority to lock out the CJ from the VIP lounges at our airports? For fcks sake, why would anyone invite the man to State House, specify the date and time for the appointment, and on the appointed hour keep him sitting in the lobby like a supplicant waiting for favours from on high?
Now it is entirely possible that there is a cadre of serikali mandarins who think that judicial officers exist to smooth over the rough bits of tenderpreneurship, them being the bigger tenderpreneurs, including the placing of thumbs in the scales of just in favour of these human scuzzballs. To them it is unfathomable that a Chief Justice will not lift up the phone and direct a magistrate in Kapchorwa to allow a suit on favour of this [pro-government] side or the other. My ears are still ringing from all the screeching that occurred when the National Environment Tribunal ruled that the Environmental Impact Assessment granted to the builders of the new Mombasa - Nairobi railway was flawed when it permitted the railway to go through portions of the Nairobi National Park. Come to think of it - the crippling of the Tribunal was the first successful shot against the judiciary. But we must bear in mind, the serikali-friendly tenderpreneurs must bear n mind, that this situation is untenable. If they successfully emasculate the judiciary, it is not Chief Justice Maraga and his judicial officers who will suffer but everyone. When we lose what little faith we have in the administration of justice, we will take the law into our own hands. Violence, in this instance, is inevitable.
We need the decisional and financial independence of the judiciary to be safeguarded but we must also be realistic. We are in a bit of a fiscal pickle and if there are to be cuts, the cuts must be applicable against everyone - parliamentarians, members of the Cabinet, county governments, and not just the judiciary. If you are going to insist that Mr Chief Justice Maraga should ride in a puny 1200cc Jetta, so too must Mr Non-Carcinogenic Wheelbarrow and JB himself in Bunge. If Wajir Law Courts have to do without Wi-Fi, so too can the Minister of Congratulations. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Whether sanity will prevail...anyway, cha muhimu ni aliveness.
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