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"id": 971120,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/971120/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Baringo North, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. William Cheptumo",
"speaker": {
"id": 50,
"legal_name": "William Cheptumo Kipkiror",
"slug": "william-kipkiror"
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"content": "Yesterday, after moving this Motion, and also this afternoon, I sat through the discussions. I must confess that Members took time to go through the Reports that we tabled. They appreciated the great steps that have been undertaken to transform the Judiciary. From 2016 to date, the Judiciary has undertaken very comprehensive transformation programmes. But this transformation agenda by the Judiciary can only be achieved when we have enough resources allocated to it. The two Reports very clearly covered the areas we need resources to implement the blueprint - Sustaining Judiciary Transformation Agenda: A Service DeliveryAgenda, 2017-2021 . I also want to say that Members appreciated the fact that, for about the last five successive financial years which are 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, we have continued to witness underfunding in the Judiciary. This being the first discussion on the State of the Judiciary Report, I believe we are going to ensure that we allocate sufficient funds to the Judiciary when we go to budgetary allocations in the coming financial year. That is the only way and time we are going to ensure that the proposed recommendations by the Committee on various areas in the Judiciary will be implemented. I said something yesterday when I was moving this Motion and I want to say it again as I reply today. Access to justice is a very interesting area. When we allocate money for roads in this House, we can see the roads. We can identify the kilometres done and the name of the road. It is tangible. You can feel and see it. It is the same for water projects like a dam. It is the same for housing. You see the houses. It is the same for health. You see hospitals and so on. However, when you talk of justice, you cannot touch it. You cannot even see it. Yesterday, one of the Members of this House confessed and said that the first time she was able to understand what a court system is was during the election petition she had. That is when she came to the reality that it is important to have a functional Judiciary. I call upon my colleagues here that we represent people who are the consumers of justice; the consumers of access to justice. Those are our people that we represent. My plea to this House is that God has given you the opportunity to allocate money even for that which you cannot touch. Even as we talk of our nation being a very strong economic powerhouse in the region, we can only do that if investors locally and abroad can have their disputes resolved as quickly as possible. I appreciate that, for the first time, this House is on record on the challenges faced by the Judiciary. We are now able to realise what the Chief Justice has been saying. As I reply, I want to emphasise that the way out of this situation, as submitted by Members here, is Article 173 of our Constitution so that we actualise the Judiciary Fund. I am happy to report to the House that the Judiciary Fund Act, 2015 is already in place. The regulation was recently passed by this House and we now have no reason not to have the Judiciary Fund, which is going to remove the challenges they are facing. Apart from allocating the little resources to the Judiciary, they also have problems with the National Treasury processes, like the challenge of accessing money through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). I want to call upon all of us in this House that in the Financial Year 2019/2020, we ensure that we do that as a House. Hon. Speaker, I am happy that, as the Chairman of this House, you have a background of our judicial system having been a magistrate before. You served our country in a big way and, again, today, you are overseeing the operations of the House. It is indeed a blessing that the Chairman of this House, that is, the Speaker, is a legal mind who understands the issues we are discussing here. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}