Plans in place to establish modern Courts for Children in Uasin Gishu

The Judiciary department plans to establish a modern court that will solely handle children matters in Uasin Gishu County.
The department plans to partner with non-governmental organizations, NGOs and the police unit to help the government establish the children’s courts.
Eldoret High Court Judge Steven Githinji said they are facing challenges such as space to hold the children and the high number of cases touching on minors that take time to be resolved.
He added that hearing children cases in open court intimidates the young ones, giving the court a hard time to get information from the minors who are the witnesses in such cases.
Githinji also added that having a modern court handling children matters alone, will help the Judiciary reduce the backlog of cases and also help minors get justice expeditiously.
The High Court Judge made the remarks during a sensitization meeting on a programme organized by the Centre for Human Rights and Mediation organization Haki Yangu na Uadilifu Mashinani.
The organization’s director Nick Omito said the programme aims at ensuring access to justice for all and is being sponsored by Amkeni Wakenya in partnership with United Nations, United Nations Development Programme and the European Union.
The meeting was also attended by High Court Judges Hellen Omondi, Ogla Sewe and Uasin Gishu Police Commander Johnstone Ipara among other senior government officers.
By Teresia Njago