This archive report was first published on 8 November 2019.
On November 8, 2019, the National Treasury bowed to pressure and returned Sh3 billion deducted from the Judiciary's budget. The move came after a public outcry over the budget cut.
A source at the Judiciary revealed that the recurrent and development budget that had been slashed by acting Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani had been fully restored. The source stated, 'There was no meeting between us and the CS or Treasury. We woke up this morning and found that our accounts were reflecting the money that had been slashed.'
Judiciary's Chief Registrar Anne Amadi confirmed the restoration of the budget. In a memo to registrars, directors, and heads of stations, she informed them that courts would resume offering services as the money in question had been restored. She wrote, 'We wish to inform you that the Judiciary's recurrent and development budget for the FY 2019/2020 has been restored and the budget for the half-year had been uploaded in Ifmis as approved by the National Assembly.'
The restoration of the budget had a significant impact on the Judiciary's operations. The effect of the budget cut had been felt at Milimani court in Nairobi, where a three-judge bench was to determine whether Kenya should attend the Maritime boundary case filed by Somalia. However, the court's registrar notified the parties in the case that budget cut had made it impossible to write a judgement. More than 15,000 cases were suspended after dozens of courts around the country shut down over crippling budget cuts.
