The impact of President William Ruto withdrawing the 2024 Finance Bill has forced the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to suspend the scheduled recruitment of 11 Court of Appeal judges.
JSC through its Chair, Chief Justice Martha Koome said the decision is part of the measures put in place to implement the directive by the National Treasury to cut down on expenditure by at least 15 percent in the appropriated budget.
She said because of this, the expenditure is now limited only to essential needs.
“In this regard, we are compelled to make major adjustments to planned programs and activities. Regrettably, this has necessitated the decision by the JSC to suspend all pending recruitments including the 11 Judges of the Court of Appeal which was scheduled to commence today,” Koome who is chairperson of the JSC said.
The Chief Justice noted that the Court of Appeal has a total of 29 Judges serving in three different stations across the country, with a total of 13,331 pending cases as of May 2024.
She said they have made efforts to increase the maximum number of judges from 30 to 70 by amending the Judicature Act, Cap 8 Laws of Kenya.
She added that resources had to be channelled to secure the Makadara Law Courts following the incident that led to the death of Justice Monica Kivuti and that they need more resources this financial year to address their most pressing needs.
