The Attorney-General chambers and the Department of Justice have announced plans to hire more state counsels to address the current shortage in the department.
Despite financial constraints facing the office, the department said it was keen to address the shortage as it was affecting service delivery.
Amid the challenges, the department has promised to deliver and deal with hundreds of legal cases and legislative drafting.
This came as senior officers in the department signed their 2023-24 performance contracts in Naivasha in a ceremony graced by Solicitor-General Shadrack Mose.
According to Mose, the State Law Office was one of the busiest departments of the government in terms of legislative drafting.
He admitted that the department faced an acute shortage of staff but was quick to note that this would not hamper service delivery.
Mose said that the government was addressing the shortage with a view of hiring more State counsels to address the legal and legislative issues.
“The shortage has been caused by budgetary constraints but we are working with the national government to address it,” he said.
Addressing the press at the sidelines of the event in Morendat Gas Institute, the Solicitor-General challenged the head of departments to deliver.
“We have enough state counsels to appear in courts despite the shortage and we shall make sure we meet our targets as set in the performance contract,” he said.
Mose at the same time noted the rising cases across the country of advocate complaints either due to failure or delay to remit clients cash.
“These complaints which are there have been dealt with by the commission on advocate complaints and tens of clients have benefitted from this,” he said.
He lauded the top leadership for their role in service delivery noting that the department was ranked second out of the 24 government ministries in the last financial year.
During the ceremony, the Solicitor-General challenged the finance department to move with urgency and deal with the rising pending bills.
“We have been challenged to assist the government to deliver in its mandate and we shall make sure that this is achieved,” he said.
Mose identified the departments of procurement and legislative drafting as the leading in the State Law office adding that there was room for improvement.
