CS Yatani Dismisses Maraga’s Angry Outburst Over Budget Cuts

Treasury Cabinet Secretary(CS) Ukur Yatani on Tuesday dismissed claims made earlier by Chief Justice David Maraga on Monday alleging budget cuts by the Treasury derailed activities carried out by the Judiciary.

On the press briefing, Maraga revealed Judiciary may not be able to carry out activities come January 2020 as the funds allocated to them from the budget would already be depleted.

Expressing displeasure, the CJ questioned why in other countries the Judiciaries are allocated 2.5% of the total country’s budget whereas when it came to Kenya it was a different case.

Acting Treasury CS, Ukur Yatani, however, took a firm stand to disregard claims made by the CJ.

“I was equally shocked at the kind of public address by the Judiciary… I can confidently tell you we have not reduced the budget for the Judiciary or National assembly, ” he said during an interview with Citizen’s TV Waihiga Mwaura.

Yatani, however, admitted to instituting measures which would ensure continued funding of the activities of the Judiciary and National Assembly and the programmes based on the availability of the revenue.

In his opinion, “what he(Maraga) should have done is just book an appointment here we sit with him we take him through the journey on the performance of the revenue and see areas we can mitigate.”

UKUR ANSWERS MARAGA:

Treasury CS dismisses CJ Maraga's claims over budget cuts. Ukur says a meeting to iron out issues was scheduled. Maraga alleged frustration by the Executive #NewsNight pic.twitter.com/riNYejYbGL

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) November 5, 2019

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, commenting on a video of Maraga’s rant shared on social media, expressed his solidarity with the arm of government he formerly headed, decrying the lack of inclusiveness, equality, and equity among government functions.

“Neither the Executive nor Parliament own national resources. The Constitution does not say so,” Mutunga noted, wondering when the Country decided that the Judiciary is a lesser Arm of Government.

Neither the Executive nor Parliament OWN national resources. The Constitution does not say so! What do the values of inclusiveness, equality, and equity between the three arms mean?When did Kenyans decide that the Judiciary should be starved of funds? LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK!

— Dr Willy M Mutunga, Chief Justice, Kenya (2011-16) (@WMutunga) November 5, 2019