Mounting Financial Crisis

Kenya's Judiciary is confronting a severe financial crisis that jeopardizes its core functions, following the National Treasury's allocation of Ksh23.7 billion for the 2025/2026 fiscal year—a figure that falls Ksh16.4 billion short of the Judiciary's required Ksh40.1 billion. The significant shortfall, confirmed in budget documents presented to Parliament, has triggered alarms from Chief Justice Martha Koome and legal sector stakeholders, who warn of dire consequences for the administration of justice across the nation.

The approved budget allocates Ksh18.1 billion for recurrent expenditures, such as salaries and operations, and only Ksh5.6 billion for development, which covers critical infrastructure projects like court construction and technology upgrades. This chronic underfunding persists despite a 2022 pledge by President William Ruto to increase the Judiciary's budget by Ksh3 billion annually. Instead, allocations have largely stagnated, failing to keep pace with the institution's expanding needs and rising operational costs.

Immediate Consequences for Kenyans

The budget deficit is set to have immediate and tangible impacts on service delivery. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC), chaired by CJ Koome, has already been forced to cancel or suspend the recruitment of judges due to financial constraints. In January 2025, the JSC halted the hiring of 11 Court of Appeal judges and five High Court judges, citing the budget cuts. This freeze exacerbates a critical staff shortage; the Court of Appeal, for instance, operates with only 29 judges out of a required 70, severely limiting its capacity to hear cases.

Infrastructure projects are also on the line. According to the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Winfridah Mokaya, at least 10 court construction and renovation projects worth over Ksh1.7 billion have stalled or slowed down due to the cash crunch. These include key projects in Eldoret, Kandara, and Kwale. The Judiciary has warned that with the current development allocation, only a fraction of planned projects, such as new High Court buildings and mobile courts, can proceed, denying justice to citizens in at least 12 counties that still lack a functional High Court.

Threats to Judicial Independence and Economic Stability

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has repeatedly voiced concerns that persistent underfunding compromises the Judiciary's independence, a cornerstone of the 2010 Constitution. LSK President Faith Odhiambo has argued that financial autonomy is essential to shield the courts from external influence and ensure impartial decisions. The budget cuts are seen not merely as a financial issue but as a potential threat to the rule of law.

Economically, the slowdown in court operations could be devastating. With a case backlog reportedly exceeding 600,000, the inability to hire more judicial officers and modernize courts will lead to longer delays in resolving commercial disputes. Such delays increase the cost of doing business, deter foreign investment, and hamper economic growth, directly undermining the government's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

A System at Breaking Point

Chief Justice Koome has stated that for the past three financial years, the Judiciary has consistently received less than 50% of its required budget. In the 2023/24 fiscal year, it received Ksh22.42 billion against a requirement of Ksh43.17 billion. This pattern of under-resourcing has forced the Judiciary to make difficult choices, such as reallocating funds intended for development to cover urgent security needs following the tragic killing of a magistrate in 2024.

While the Judiciary has made strides in efficiency, reporting high case clearance rates through initiatives like Court-Annexed Mediation and the 'Mahakama Popote' virtual courts, these gains are unsustainable without adequate funding. As the institution struggles to fulfill its constitutional mandate with limited resources, the risk of a systemic breakdown grows, threatening to put justice on hold for millions of ordinary Kenyans. The next steps may involve the Judiciary petitioning Parliament for supplementary funding, but the outcome remains uncertain.