The Judicial Service Commission(JSC) plans to build four additional courts in Busia county to enhance accessibility and reduce case overload at the Busia High Court.
Speaking to press in Busia, JSC commissioner Everlyne Olwande said the commission is collaborating with the county government of Busia to construct a court in every subcounty.
Already Teso North, Teso south and Bunyala have courts in operation though the cost of finding justice in the remaining sub counties is too costly.
“We want to ensure we bring justice close to our people to discourage kangaroo court which have been the main hindrance in some people getting justice,” noted Olwande.
Busia High Court Chief Magistrate Edna Nyaloti reiterated the challenges court users in Busia county go through due to lack of judicial infrastructural development and echoed the need to establish more courts in Busia to bring justice closer to the people.
“Before the penalization of Malaba law court, we had a lot of unattended to cases due to our number of staffs and huge backlog of cases as the county had only one court serving over 1.2 million people,” said Nyaloti.
Olwande noted that there are myriad of challenges when it comes to dispensing justice not only in Busia but across the country and urged residents of Busia to embrace out of court settlements to enhance justice and efficiency.
She urged residents to consider alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in some petty cases, which can be handled at the family and community level.
“I want to encourage Busia residents to embrace ADR as they are flexible, cost-efficient, time-effective, and give the parties more control over the process and the results. Parties who resolve their disputes through ADR are generally more satisfied because they may directly participate in working out the terms of their settlement,” she added.
Olwande lauded the county government of Busia for being on the forefront to establish council of elder justice dispute resolution mechanism to expedite justice dispensation.
This comes 3 months after the Judicial Service Commission inaugurated Small Claims Court at Malaba to Reduce Case backlog.
This will streamline justice administration and alleviate case backlogs at the local Resident Magistrate court.
