Salaries and Remuneration Commission accused of interfering with the Judicial Service Commission

Nyeri,

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

KNA By Wangari Mwangi 

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has accused the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) of interfering with its mandate. 

 Led by deputy vice chairman of the commission, Macharia Njeru, JSC officials say that while it appreciates the role of the SRC in handling the salaries of state officers, human resource matters and attempts to review salaries and benefits of judicial officers are purely the role of the JSC. 

  “The SRC has attempted to encroach on our mandate because of the judiciary staff that is our mandate as JSC. We appreciate and accept the fact that the salaries of state officers is the mandate of SRC so we have told them in no uncertain terms that we shall not allow that interference,” said Njeru.

In September this year, Chief Justice Martha Koome raised concerns over attempts by the SRC to meddle in the affairs of the Judiciary. In a speech read on her behalf by her deputy Philomena Mwilu, during the Annual Judges Colloquium which was held in Mombasa, the CJ noted that by attempting to set the salaries and remuneration of Judicial officers,the SRC had interfered with the independence of the judiciary. 

“The SRC has interfered with the JSC’s mandate under Article 172(1) (b) of the constitution which is to review and make recommendations in the condition of services of judicial staff. Which does not include remuneration and benefits for public officers,” said Koome. 

Njeru was speaking at the Nyeri High court when he led members of the commission on a fact finding court visit. According to Njeru, the outreach is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency in delivery of justice within the courts. During the visit, members of the JSC toured the Nyeri Law courts and the Othaya Law Courts where they engaged members of the public and the judiciary staff. 

“We are seeking views from court users with the view of improving our service delivery and also for them to tell us what areas they would like the judiciary to improve on,” stated Njeru. 

On matters improving access to justice, Njeru said that there are plans to increase the scope of the virtual courts to help bridge the human resource gap. Additionally, he said that the commission will be increasing the number of judges to meet the increasing demand for litigation. 

“Our aim is to ensure that in every county there are high court judges and the divisions that have a lot of work for instance the land and environment court have adequate staff. But even as we expand the establishment, what we are doing is expand the scope of the virtual courts because we are alive to the fact that if we use technology it could also bridge the gap and we can also ensure that judges and magistrate can work from anywhere,” said Njeru. 

From Nyeri, the JSC is expected to visit Eastern, Western and Nyanza regions. 

Courtesy; KNA