Kenya judiciary complain of budget cuts

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Kenya's chief justice says budgets cuts have left judges unable to afford fuel to come to work in an attempt to make judiciary "a puppet" of other arms of government.

Chief Justice David Maraga said Monday that the budget cuts had halted the use of mobile courts which helped people from remote areas get justice and also stopped a project to reduce the backlog of hundreds of thousands cases. He said the judiciary can no longer afford internet Wi-Fi.

The budget cuts come after President Uhuru Kenyatta called the judiciary a bunch of crooks and promised to "fix" them after top courts nullified his election in 2017, citing illegalities and irregularities that went against the constitution. Kenyatta later won a rerun of the elections.