Various stakeholders and residents want the Judicial Service Commission to deploy more judges for the High Court in Murang’a to handle increased case backlog.
During a court open day forum which brought together judicial officers and court users on Friday, it was revealed that the backlog at the local high court stand at 2, 445 active cases with 260 cases being in court for over 10 years.
Residents decried the slow process and delayed conclusion of their cases calling for interventions that would fast track their cases.
Addressing participants of the forum, Chief Magistrate Peter Ndwiga said the high court has been assigned two judges instead of four.
He noted that shortage of judges has contributed to piling up of cases assuring residents that the available Judges were working around the clock to reduce the backlog.
“Our high court has two judges instead of four whilst our magistrate courts have five magistrates instead of seven to mean each judge has about 1300 cases to handle. We are however doing our best to serve you effectively,” Ndwiga told the participants of the forum held at the court’s compound.
He also mentioned that lawyers’ calls for the adjournment of cases and the failure by witnesses to show up for court proceedings as a major factor in the delaying of timely conclusion of cases.
This he said while encouraging members of the community to embrace mediation because unlike judges who consider evidence only, mediation focuses on the initial truth.
“We are already in talks with the judges in planning an open day for the sensitization of mediation and its validity, but we have to meet with the mediators exclusively first.” added Ndwiga.
The Court Administrator Oscar Soi on his part observed that since January this year 967 cases have been filed before the local high court saying the high number of cases poses a big challenge to only two judges to handle timely.
“If we can get one more judge, the workload could be a bit lighter and fast tracked because judges ideally deal with very complex matters such as murders and constitutional cases,” remarked the court administrator.
Soi observed that inadequate funds is a major factor causing shortage of judges in the high court, referring to the revocation notice published in the Kenya Gazette on January 15, 2025 that saw vacancies of 11 positions for judges of the Court of Appeal and five for judges of the High Court rescinded due to financial constraints adding that retiring of judges in the recent past is also contributing to shortage.
He further commended the court annexed mediation, which had really reduced case backlog as it helped in solving succession and small-valued cases which could have otherwise taken a long time in court.
The administrator drew to attention the fact that the court is a corruption free zone and all services were free of charge cautioning residents from falling to traps of unscrupulous individuals claiming to help in influencing outcomes of their cases.
Mediators engaged by the court called for a platform to educate members of the community on the functions and importance of mediation in solving cases.
A representative of the mediators, Martin Maigwa, said that amongst challenges they faced was reluctance of involved parties in showing up when summoned for a mediation session.
“As mediators, we appeal to judicial officers to help us in sensitizing the locals on the importance of mediation as this will help reduce the backlogs,” noted Maigwa.
By Bernard Munyao and Alex Ndegwa
