NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 7 — Deputy President William Ruto arrived in London on Sunday for the second leg of his international campaign tour after concluding a series of meetings with government officials and Kenyans in diaspora in the United States.
Ruto pledged to operationalize the Judiciary Fund and ensure independent constitutional offices, including the National Police Service, have their own accounting officers to address concerns of manipulation by the State.
He was speaking during a forum with Kenyans in the United Kingdom after his arrival in London where he was received by officials from the Kenyan High Commission led by High Commissioners Manoah Esipisu.
“The challenge we’ve had with police relying on budgets controlled by accounting officers at the Office of the President is that they (State officials) then control investigative agencies by directing them on who to arrest and charge in court and who not to,” he said.
Ruto, who is seeking to be Kenya’s fifth President in the August 9 presidential election, also pledged to operationalize the Judiciary Fund in order to empower the courts and its officials as envisaged in law under the principle of separation of powers.
“The underfunding of the Judiciary is deliberate,” he said. “It is designed to weaken courts.”
Article 173 of the Constitution (2010) provides for the establishment of a a kitty “to be known as the Judiciary Fund which shall be administered by the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary.”
“The Fund shall be used for administrative expenses of the Judiciary and such other purposes as may be necessary for the discharge of the functions of the Judiciary,” Article 173 (2) reads.
The Constitution also requires Parliament to enact laws to regulate the Fund.
Under the framework outlined in Article 173, the Chief Registrar will be required in every financial year to prepare estimates of expenditure for the following year, and submit them to the National Assembly for approval.
“Upon approval by the National Assembly, the expenditure of the Judiciary shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund and the funds shall be paid directly into the Judicary Fund.”
The Judiciary has over time proposed a minimum quota of 2.5 per cent of the national budget to fund its operations, an increment from budgetary allocations averaging 0.9 per cent of the national budget.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga launched the campaign for the minimum allocation in 2018 which he noted was in line with the globally recommended threshold of 2.5 per cent of national budgets.
