Chief Justice David Maraga has told President Uhuru Kenyatta he has nothing personal against him, coming as the two have had a rocky relationship. 

During his final State of the Judiciary address, Maraga said he only had a difference of opinion with President Kenyatta.

“To our President, wherever you are, it is clear that there is a difference of opinion between me and you. But I want to assure you and the entire nation that I have nothing personal against you,” the CJ said.

“I have given you respect as our Head of State. Why would I want to fight you, as some people are suggesting? I am apolitical and I hold no brief for any politician. The Security and the Intelligence Services can assure you of that.” he added.

Maraga will retire in 2021but his strained relationship with Kenyatta has resulted in the Judiciary budget being slashed and only 47 per cent honoured.

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The Supreme Court, headed by Maraga, in 2017 nullified Kenyatta’s election prompting the president to threaten the judiciary with unspecified action.

Uhuru Kenyatta. PHOTO/PSCU

In the 2018 financial year, the budget of the judiciary headed by the CJ was slashed to Sh50 million from Sh2.1 billion marking the start of their row.

He lamented that many court construction projects across the country had stalled because of the judiciary budget cut by the national government.

Maraga said the Judiciary was being punished for executing its mandate.

"Budget cuts hurt services such as ICT, which was sometimes slashed or not provided altogether," he lamented.

He also noted that reduction of backlog of cases, one of his pledges when he took office, did not succeed as expected due to the funding hitches.

Maraga said judges can only be able to handle 300,000 cases each year against the 400,000 cases filed in courts across the country.

He urged the National Assembly to set aside between Sh5 billion and Sh10 billion to the judiciary yearly for it to erect more courts and reduce cases backlog.