Starved of justice: Financial strangulation of courts and the rule of law in East Africa

In recent years, threats to judicial independence in East Africa have evolved from overt executive interference and political persecution to more subtle, systemic forms of control such as judicial funding. Within the East African Community, the judicial arm of the member states governments and the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) remains financially tethered to the executive for the former JULY 2025 33 and the contributions of member states for the latter. The overall effect is that the courts are rendered vulnerable to political pressure, delayed disbursements, budgetary retaliation, and operational paralysis. Autocratic governments which tend to hold discretion over allocations and disbursements of the national budgets due to their control of parliament and executive, remainder of the government arms, exercise fiscal tools as instruments of control, particularly in moments of political contestation or judicial assertiveness. The current state of events where the executive wields significant power over state resources and the legislature in blind alignment are fully in sync with Alexander Hamilton’s observations during the foundational debates on the U.S. Constitution that, the judiciary “has no influence over either the sword or the purse...and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment.”1 Judicial independence is defined both as the autonomy of judges in decision-making and the structural independence of the judicial institution and is generally accepted to be foundational to the rule of law. The structural independence of the judiciary entails courts being able to function with operational and financial autonomy.2 Without adequate and independent funding, even the most courageous courts risk becoming hollow vessels, powerful in law but paralyzed in fact. In the East African Community (EAC), where democratic norms are under increasing strain, the integrity of judicial institutions is a huge concern. Practices such as inadequate allocations, budget cuts and delayed disbursements undermine not only the functional capacity of the judiciary but also its perceived neutrality ultimately eroding public trust in the justice system. This article explores how...Read more