Inside President Ruto and Chief Justice Koome’s State House meeting
President William Ruto and Chief Justice Martha Koome convened at State House on January 22 to address the pervasive issue of corruption in Kenya.
State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed released a press statement outlining the details of the meeting.
The statement highlighted that, at the request of the Judiciary, the President brought together leaders from the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary for consultations aimed at devising comprehensive strategies to combat corruption, improve accountability, and streamline service delivery to the Kenyan people.
The key agreements reached during the meeting include a unanimous acknowledgment that corruption poses an existential threat to the nation, infiltrating all three branches of government and hindering the country’s developmental potential.
Each arm of the government committed to enhancing service delivery, fighting corruption, and advancing the overall administration of justice to ensure greater accountability to the citizens.
Furthermore, the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary pledged to independently formulate policies, guidelines, regulations, and legislative proposals to fulfill their shared objectives.
These proposals will be submitted within 30 days to a forum of the National Council of the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) convened by Chief Justice Koome.
The forum will outline a roadmap for immediate, medium-term, and long-term measures to be implemented.
To strengthen the fight against corruption and improve service delivery, the Executive and the Legislature expressed their commitment to supporting the Judiciary’s request for additional budgetary allocations.
Specifically, this support aims to facilitate the recruitment of 25 additional High Court Judges, the hiring of 11 new Judges for the Court of Appeal, and the conclusion of the vehicle leasing program to address the judiciary’s transport needs.
Crucially, all three branches of the government committed to performing their functions in a manner that upholds and enhances the rule of law, institutional independence, and respect for court decisions.