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Taxpayers are suspected to have lost billions of shillings in questionable deals that led to the sacking of Mrs Gladys Shollei as the Chief Registrar last year.......
.....More shocking was the revelation by KENAO that Sh53 million had been spent on leasing metal detectors and underbelly view mirrors at Sh4.7 million per month to boost security. The courts were leasing each metal detector at Sh18,000 and the mirrors at Sh24,000 each per month, when they retailed at Sh12,000 and Sh14,000 in the shops.
The auditors also want to establish why nine contractors were paid Sh300 million before they could instal IT equipment in the Judiciary. It is against government financial regulations to pre-finance contractors.
The courts also spent nearly Sh500 million on items which had not been budgeted for such as prefabrication of law courts and partitioning of Elgon Place.
The Registrar has also cancelled the construction of a Sh691 million High Court building at Kapsowar in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
Internal judiciary correspondence indicates that the tender was awarded despite the fact that the Judiciary did not have land to build the courthouse.
“Therefore, the contractor has not taken possession of the site and this contract is not likely to be executed as planned,” Ms Amadi said in a letter dated April 10 to the Chief Justice.
Earlier this month, the Registrar revealed that Sh46.4 million had been paid to a contractor and consultants to build a court in Mavoko, which does not exist one year later.
In mid-February, KENAO reported that about 70 per cent of the space in Rahimtullah Building and 100 per cent at Elgon Place was not occupied. As a result, the auditors said Judiciary was losing Sh1.1 billion a month in unutilised premises.
Two weeks ago, the Judiciary reversed the decision to rent Elgon Place for the Court of Appeal, saying Mrs Shollei secured the premises unprocedurally.
The premises were leased last year for six years at an annual rent of Sh603.6 million.
But judges refused to move there, citing health concerns over the telecommunication masts adjacent the building.