Am sure if you have ever suffered an injustice then you are aware Court cases in Kenya can be patience exhausting for reasons such as distance to the courts, backlog of cases and delivery of the court services.
Well in a mission to strengthen the capacity of the judiciary Chief Justice David Maraga officially opened the new Kigumo Law Courts building, in Murang’a County, on Thursday.
He said it would be a disappointment to have the “spankling new buildings” without improving the quality of services offered to the public as the CJ called on court officials to utilize the facilities to improve service delivery to wananchi.
The Kigumo building is the first court to be opened this year. It is one of the courts out of the 28 being supported and funded by the World Bank through the Judicial Performance Improvement Project (JPIP).
JPIP was conceptualized in 2012 and is being implemented till 2018. The project was designed to scale up and sustain stakeholder participation in the administration of justice and restore public confidence in the Judiciary.
The project is being implemented by the Judiciary and also supports the Office of the Attorney General and The National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya Law) as justice sector players.
The Presiding Judge of the Muranga High Court, Justice Kanyi Kimondo, said the construction of new court buildings was a major step towards achieving the CJ’s vision of taking Judiciary services closer to the people.
Saying that the Judiciary is committed to delivering justice expeditiously, Maraga called judicial officers to ensure litigants understood the language used in proceedings.
Murang’a County Governor Mwangi wa Iria who also spoke during the function asked the Judiciary to expedite the resolution of many cases related to devolution which he said were currently pending at the Court of Appeal.
He as well expressed concern over the many succession matters that are dragging through the legal process saying that delays in resolving property inheritance matters was impeding development and contributing to escalated crime in our county.
“Very deep social injustices are caused by succession challenges,” the Governor said.
The Law Society of Kenya Mt Kenya branch chairperson, Ms Linda Kiome, praised the Judiciary’s efforts to clear old cases and asked the Chief Justice to increase the number of service weeks. She also urged the Judiciary to act on the stalled court construction projects in the area.
The new Kigumo Court building constructed at a cost of Sh 94 million, consists of three court rooms, three chambers, registries for each division and separate holding facilities for men, women and juveniles complete with toilets.
It consists of client consultation rooms and a well-stocked library for judicial officers and advocates together with a lounge.