Dept needs K20mil to pay 19,000 village court officials

THE Department of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) needs K20 million extra to pay 19,000 village court officials and land mediators, says Justice Secretary Dr Eric Kwa.
“The approval for funding has already been done through (Cabinet). We need to ensure that they have allocated (in the budget) another K10 million this year and K10 million next year,” he said. “When the department (employed) them (officials) on allowances in 2013, we could only get the 7,000 court officials and mediators.
“This increased to 10,000. And when the new Government took over, we increased that to 13,000.”
Kwa said the village court allowances every year cost K70 million for the 19,000 officials and land mediators working in 1,670 village courts.
He told The National that last year, the DJAG made a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC), to increase the budget from K50 million to K60 million.
This year, the department will be pushing for an addition K10 million.
“Once we put the remaining 6,000 on the payroll, then we’ll start talking about improving the system, looking at ways to increase opportunities by providing the training for those interested in becoming village court officials and mediators,” he said.
Cabinet approved last year that village court officers and clerks should serve a maximum of 10 years. “Our strategy is to provide those finishing Grade 12 an opportunity to be a part of the judiciary, and then after five to 10 years, we let them go so that there’s a new cycle of Grade 12 (graduates) in the system,” he said.