President William Ruto and Chief Justice Martha Koome held a consultative meeting at State House, Nairobi on Monday, January 22 to iron out issues that have led to a government onslaught of the Judiciary.
The meeting follows public pronouncements by the two, who said they are ready to meet and resolve the tiff between the judiciary and executive.
The meeting brought together representatives from the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government.
At the end of the meeting, it was clear there was an agreement to call of the onslaught on the judiciary going by the meeting’s resolutions.
According to a communique issued by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed, it was agreed that there was a need for a commitment to collaboration among all branches of the government, with a deep emphasis on the rule of law, institutional independence, and unwavering adherence to court decisions.
The different branches of government also agreed to formulate strategies against corruption, enhance accountability, and streamline service delivery for the citizens of Kenya.
“The Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary agree to individually develop policies, guidelines, regulations and legislative proposals to achieve the objectives of fighting corruption, improving service delivery and enhancing institutional accountability of all arms of Government to the people of Kenya,” the communique reads.
Leaders from all three branches agreed on a unified commitment to intensify efforts to improve service delivery, combat corruption, and uphold justice.
Each arm of the government further pledged to independently develop policies, guidelines, regulations, and legislative proposals to fight corruption, enhance service delivery, and ensure institutional accountability.
Within the next 30 days, each branch will also present its proposals to a National Council of the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) forum chaired by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
This forum will delineate a roadmap for immediate, medium-term, and long-term actions.
In a move to strengthen the fight against corruption and improve service delivery, the Executive and Legislature also pledged support for the Judiciary’s request for additional budgetary allocation.
This includes provisions for recruiting 25 judges for the High Court and 11 judges for the Court of Appeal. The executive also pledged resources to complete the vehicle leasing program to meet the judiciary’s transportation needs.
