MPs Question Billions in Taxpayer-Funded Allowances Paid to Judges
The Judiciary has once again found itself under sharp scrutiny after revelations that judges and top judicial staff have been receiving billions of shillings in allowances that were never approved by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
During a heated session on Tuesday, September 10, Members of Parliament sitting in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) demanded answers on why the Judiciary had decided to set its own allowance rates, ignoring the standard guidelines issued by the SRC.
Lawmakers argued that although the Judiciary enjoys independence, that autonomy cannot extend to making unilateral financial decisions that place an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
At the centre of the storm is a circular issued on July 23, 2019, by then-Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Anne Amadi. The circular introduced a new structure for daily subsistence allowances (popularly known as per diems).
In this framework, the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice were each allocated a whopping Ksh30,000 per day for local travel.
Judges and the Chief Registrar were slotted in the second tier with Ksh25,000 daily, while Chief Magistrates, the Deputy Chief Registrar, the Chief Kadhi, and staff in job groups PLS 16 and 17 were granted Ksh20,000 daily. All other officers continued receiving the existing lower rates.
Amadi’s directive instructed the Human Resource Director to immediately enforce these revised rates, with the Chief Human Resource Officer (Welfare) copied in to ensure swift implementation.
However, the new structure did not escape the radar of Auditor General Nancy Gathungu. In her audit of the Judiciary’s financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2023, Gathungu flagged the allowances as irregular, pointing out that they violated SRC’s guidelines.
According to her report, judicial officers, including the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, judges, the Chief Registrar, Chief Magistrates, and staff in high job groups, were all paid per diems higher than those approved by SRC.
“The SRC circular dated February 2, 2022, clearly outlined the applicable travel and subsistence rates for all state and public officers. Despite this, the Judiciary has been paying rates that are well above what SRC authorised,” the Auditor General observed.
This prompted MPs to press the Judiciary for answers, questioning the benchmarks used to justify the inflated payments.
“Who exactly regulates these allowances? Who determines the standard? Because allowances could be as low as two hundred shillings, but if someone decides to peg it at a thousand shillings, who checks that? How do you arrive at such figures?” posed Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo.
He went on to question whether the Judiciary benchmarks its rates against international practices, such as those in the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth countries, noting that SRC usually arrives at its figures through wide-ranging surveys of economic conditions, hotel rates, and cost-of-living indices.
Responding to the grilling, the current Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Winfridah Mokaya, who also doubles as the institution’s accounting officer, defended the structure.
She explained that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) based its rates on those applied by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) and even carried out its own benchmarking exercise before SRC released its circular.
Her explanation, however, was dismissed by MPs, who argued that the PSC could not be used as a benchmark since it sets internal rates for MPs’ benefits — many of which have already been nullified by SRC.
Lawmakers maintained that the Judiciary, like every other public body, must operate within the broader public service remuneration framework and not carve out its own rules.
The controversy adds to the growing public anger over the rising cost of maintaining state officers, with taxpayers already footing hefty bills for perks ranging from sitting allowances to travel per diems.
The committee has since demanded that the Judiciary submit a copy of the Supreme Court ruling it cited as the legal basis for its allowances, as well as a detailed explanation of how its benchmarking was conducted.
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