This archive report was first published on 7 November 2019.
Acting Treasury CS Ukur Yatani has defended budget cuts for the Judiciary, accusing judges of hindering tax collection by delaying cases and giving orders that stop the government from collecting taxes.
Yatani made the remarks in an interview with The Standard, two days after Chief Justice David Maraga claimed that the Judiciary was being undermined by the Executive with the budget cuts being the clearest indication.
According to Yatani, the country's resources are limited and need to be prioritized, and all government services are critical. He argued that the Judiciary's budget was slashed by Sh2.9 billion in the latest round of austerity measures unveiled by Treasury.
Yatani also accused judges and magistrates of standing in the way of tax collection by indifferently treating tax dispute suits before the courts without appreciating that the same taxes are the main source of government revenues.
He cited the case of the planned excise taxes on bottled water and soft drinks, which was expected to generate annually Sh3.5 billion, according to Treasury's projections. Manufacturers have until next Wednesday to start affixing revenue stamps on these beverages after a court ruled in favour of the Kenya Revenue Authority in the suit filed two years ago.
Yatani is expected to table in Parliament Supplementary Budget that would regularize proposed spending cuts for approval. He likened the national budget to that of any household, saying there were competing needs for the limited resources and that everyone should wake to that reality.
Yatani's comments come as a court has already given interim orders stopping the Treasury CS from slashing the Judicial budget in a case filed by the Judicial Service Commission.
Justice Makau Mutua of the High Court issued the orders, saying, “Pending the hearing and determination of this case, an order is hereby issued restraining the National Treasury, its agents, officers or any persons from implementing a September 24 circular or issuing any unwarranted directive with the same effect on the judiciary’s budget.”
Yatani, however, faulted his predecessor Henry Rotich's approach to budget-making process, which was informed by unrealistic revenue projections that forced the government on a borrowing spree to plug the funding hole.
Rotich's budgets had huge funding gaps and borrow more than Sh600 billion to meet spendings, Yatani said. He has no immediate plans for mega borrowing, indicating that his priority was actually to retire expensive loans, including the Eurobonds as part of his debt restructuring drive.
