Photo by Benson Kelio
Chief Justice David Maraga has directed that a new law court be started in Marigat town, Baringo country, as soon as possible to decongest existing courts and reduce distances travelled by residents seeking judicial services.
The chief justice said that the vast county is currently being served by two courts in Kabarnet and Eldama Ravine which he noted were too congested and distance apart for effective delivery of services to wananchi.
Speaking on Monday during an inspection tour of ongoing construction works at Eldama Ravine law courts building, Mr Maraga observed that judicial staff in the county was working in a very difficult situation because of high number of cases being filed in the two courts and therefore the construction of another court in Marigat will help alleviate the problem.
The new court in Marigat whose construction, he said, will commence any time will help serve the people of Tiaty, Marigat and lower parts of Baringo North sub counties who currently travelled long distances to Kabarnet to file cases.
He commended local court users committee (CUCs) for a well done job saying that reports he has received indicate that the committee has really worked extra hard to resolve some of cases which would have ended in court.
“I urge the committee comprising of departmental heads, religious leaders and civil society representatives to tackle cases like succession and land boundaries disputes at home since when resolved at that level the parties will live as brothers and sisters,” he emphasized.
The judiciary, he stated, by end next month, will escalade the electronic filing of cases to other stations outside Nairobi County to ease congestion, spread of Covid-19 and minimize loss of files.
He said that they are finalizing on installation of WIFI in some courts across the country in preparation for the roll out of the electronic filling to facilitate easy connectivity.
“During the Covid 19 period we discourage people from going for face to face hearing of cases and that is why we want to also roll out the electronic process soon outside Nairobi,” he said
Maraga who was received by Eldama Ravine Principal Magistrate (PM) John Tamar expressed confidence that construction works on the three storey building which has stalled for quite sometimes will commence soon since some contractual issues with the contractor has been sorted out.
Meanwhile Kabarnet high court judge Edward Muriithi has lamented that if Covid-19 will continue to spike in the country, it might limit easing of backlog of cases at the court.
Justice Muriithi said that it will prove challenging because the court now has a total of 339 pending criminal and civil cases dating back to 2017 that he was working to finish before his tour of duty in the station comes to an end in a month’s time.
He welcomed the use of virtual meetings saying it has ensured continuity of court process after being affected by Covid-19 in March this year which called for suspension of face to face court sessions.
By Benson Kelio/Joshua Kibet
