The Chief Justice (CJ), David Maraga has admitted that there were emerging challenges in the fight against corruption and has called on all stakeholders to have an honest and open discussion in dealing with the challenges.
However, the CJ was optimistic that the challenges will be overcome following the recent changes and transformation in the judiciary.
Last week, the CJ made some changes by transferring some senior judges in a move meant to fight graft head on.
The CJ admission comes in the wake of accusations that the judiciary was the stumbling block in the fight against graft with recent incidences where the EACC, DCI and DPP offices accused the courts of delaying corruption cases.
But speaking in Naivasha, Justice Maraga stated that the fight against corruption could only be won by the concerned institutions working as a team and coming up with practical solutions instead of finger pointing.
Addressing participants on Thursday during the 20th Council Meeting of the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) at Enashipai hotel in Naivasha, Justice Maraga noted that effective administration of justice required collaboration between the key actors in the justice sector.
He added that whenever there was interruption or a break in the justice chain, the effects were clear including delays of cases in court, disruption or denial of services, corruption, and other ills.
However, the CJ noted that despite the challenges, Kenya moved 12 places in Ease of Doing Business 2018 to position 80 globally out of 190 countries compared to position 92 in the year 2017 report.
He attributed this to some of the reforms going on in the justice sector and the decision to embrace alternative dispute resolution.
The Chief Registrar in the Judiciary, Ann Amadi said the NCAJ was divided into seven thematic committees geared towards fast tracking the provision of justice in the country and cited the bail and bond committee, taskforce on children matters, criminal justice reform committee and working committee on traffic that is geared towards ensuring road safety and ending corruption.
By Esther Mwangi/Mercy Kihugu
