The Judiciary requires Sh315 million for purchase of motor vehicles for 10 judges without vehicles and replacement of 25 others, translating to Sh9 million for each vehicle.
The push to buy new cars comes amid a drive to cut non essential spending like travel, hospitality and purchase of cars to plug budget gaps following amendments to tax measures such as the halving of value added tax on all petroleum products to eight per cent.
The Judiciary managed to secure an additional Sh1.5 billion amid the budgets cuts for the year ending next June.
Thirty five judges are set to receive a Sh9 million fuel guzzler each, defying President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order to cut on motoring expenses amid an austerity drive.
Chief Justice David Maraga told Parliament the Judiciary requires Sh315 million for purchase of motor vehicles for 10 judges without vehicles and replacement of 25 others, translating to Sh9 million for each vehicle.
The push to buy new cars comes amid a drive to cut non essential spending like travel, hospitality and purchase of cars to plug budget gaps following amendments to tax measures such as the halving of value added tax on all petroleum products to eight per cent.
At Sh9 million, the Judiciary is targeting fuel guzzlers like Toyota Land Cruiser V8, BMW, Range Rover Evoque and Mercedes Benz E220, adding further burden to taxpayers in the form of petrol and spare parts. Justice Maraga told the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) while pushing for additional funding that vehicles assigned to the 35 judges had aged and are prone to break downs.
He added that defective cars prompted judges to be rescued by their colleagues, arguing that this was exposing the top Judiciary staff to security risks.
The Judiciary managed to secure an additional Sh1.5 billion amid the budgets cuts for the year ending next June.
The purchase of the high-end cars also goes against an earlier government directive to pursue leasing deals instead of purchase of cars or acquiring low capacity vehicles.
This led to the purchase of Volkswagen Passat models, which the government picked in 2009 to replace fuel guzzlers such as Mercedes and Range Rovers.
The budget committee raised the red flag over the high cost of the vehicles set for purchase for judges.
“However, it was noted that the indicated vehicles are more expensive,” BAC said in a report to MPSs ahead of approving the national budget.
MPs reversed the Judiciary’s budget cuts after judges warned that clearance of the current backlog of cases would stall.
Justice Maraga said the Treasury’s budget cut would force the Judiciary to suspend operations of more than 50 mobile courts across the country, derailing efforts to clear the backlog of cases.
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