Kenya Judges and Magistrates Association has refuted claims that they have received a lot of money from the Salary and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Through the association president Derick Kuto said the magistrates and Kadhis are living in deplorable conditions which was made worse by SRC slashing their salaries by over 30 percent.
According to Kuto, it is now in the public domain that the association moved to court and obtained orders against SRC for contempt of court after the pay cut. The court had ordered the commission to tamper with the salaries.
“We went to court and obtained orders against SRC after they reduced the magistrates’ pay from Sh 120,000 to Sh 90,000,” said the president.
Kuto added that the magistrates can not access a car loan or mortgage and unless they get sufficient pay it is not possible for them to discharge their duties accordingly.
“Let members of the public understand the nature of our work. Our members deal with sensitive matters and unless something is done about their pay, their security will be compromised,” he added.
He rebuked SRC for demonstrating open bias since it managed to give Members of county Assembly millions of shillings car grant in two days during the BBI campaign but for the magistrates, it has taken ages.
KMJA’s lawyer Danstan Omari emphasised that reducing the magistrates’ pay puts them at a risk of being compromised during discharge of their duties.
The lawyer also pointed out that the magistrates are entitled to security and non practising allowance.
“They also need car grants because they use public means which poses a danger to them as some of the people including conductors, turn boys and others may be criminals or having a case before these magistrates,” said Omari.
He demanded SRC to be accountable as it bends to the political class and ignores those such as magistrates whose jobs pose a risk to them.
Omari noted that SRC appealed the decision to pay Sh 5 million for contempt but no stay orders were issued.
