Ruto, CJ Martha Koome Reach 6 Agreements After Executive-Judiciary Row

President William Ruto and Chief Justice Martha Koome on Monday, January 22 reached an agreement that would consolidate the three arms of government in terms of working to end corruption in the Judiciary, ending weeks of political tussles between the Judiciary and the Executive.

This was captured in a statement released by State House spokesperson, Hussein Mohamed.

"Today, at the request of the Judiciary, the President convened the leadership of the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary in consultations to deliberate on building approaches to fight corruption, enhance accountability and to facilitate the efficient and seamless delivery of services to the people of Kenya," read the statement in part.

President Ruto hosts CJ Martha Koome and the leadership of the Legislature led by National Assembly speaker Moses Wetangula at State House, Nairobi on January 22, 2024. /PCS

During the closed-door meeting, it was agreed that corruption remains an existential threat to the nation which has permeated the three arms of Government, undermining the country's tremendous development potential and sabotaging the much-needed transformation of Kenya.

Each of the three arms of Government was committed to enhancing service delivery, fighting corruption and promoting the overall administration of justice to enhance accountability to the people of Kenya.

Furthermore, the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary agreed to individually develop policies, guidelines, regulations and legislative proposals to achieve the objectives of fighting corruption, improving service delivery and enhancing institutional accountability of all arms of Government to the people of Kenya.

"Within 30 days, each arm of Government will submit the proposals made to a forum of the National Council of the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) convened by Her Ladyship the Chief Justice.

"This forum will provide a roadmap for the immediate, medium-term and long-term measures to be undertaken," the statement added.

To optimize the efficient delivery of service and the fight against corruption, the Executive, and the Legislature, will support the Judiciary's request for additional budgetary support to achieve among others the following:

1. To facilitate the recruitment of an additional 25 Judges of the High Court.
2. To facilitate the recruitment of 11 new Judges of the Court of Appeal.
3. Resources will also be provided to conclude the vehicle leasing program to facilitate the judiciary's transport needs.

Finally, the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary expressed commitment to performing their functions in a manner that respects, promotes and enhances the rule of law, institutional independence, and respect for court decisions.

The agreements were reached hours after opposition leader, Raila Odinga expressed his reservations over the meeting which took place at State House, Nairobi.

“Chief Justice, the head of Judiciary has gone for a meeting with the President in State House this is in our view an irresponsible move, if there is supposed to be a dialogue, the dialogue should be held in a neutral place, State House is the seat of the Executive that is where the President resides,” said Raila while addressing an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) event in Lamu County.

“This means the Judiciary is being compromised by the Executive, the Judiciary is being held hostage and we have seen this before. We saw it happen under the rule of Moi and we have tried to caution the Chief Justice not to go bed with the Executive it is an unfortunate development.”

The opposition chief called on other members of the Judiciary not to be compromised and to exercise their work per the Constitution.

The Chief Justice had written to President Ruto seeking to hold talks after he raised concerns about the conduct of some judges and judicial officers, to which he accepted.

The president had previously expressed his intention to bypass court orders to push the government's agenda, while the Deputy President, Gachagua had committed to present a petition against Justice Esther Maina.