Chief Justice (CJ), Martha Koome, has today presided over the swearing-in ceremony of three new members to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT).
The new appointees, Mutubwa Wilfred, Kiragu Gad and Teresiah Chepkemei, took an oath at the Supreme Court Building during the ceremony.
Koome called on the adjudicators to always remember the Principles of the Constitution, to ensure that at all times, Justice and fairness are achieved.
“We need to build confidence of Kenyans that we have systems and structures in place to guarantee that anybody with a grievance, can be heard and responded to, with a fair and just judgments,” she said.
She called upon the new members to strive in their work, to live up to and meet the standards set out in the Constitution, as it has implications for the state stability and peaceful co-existence as citizens of the nation.
CJ added that the Constitution and legislature created PPDT body as a forum of efficient resolution of political disputes.
Koome highlighted on PPDT’s role in protection of democracy and realization of Kenyans rights and expectations to have a free, fair and credible elections.
“PPDT is intended to be a democracy enhancing institution, thus Kenyans are expected to work towards the realization of the goal of strengthening our constitutional democracy, through the resolution of the inter-core disputes that arise before elections,” she said.
The Chairperson of PPDT, Precious Mugo, stated that the Tribunal seeks to apply different guidelines, among them the Chief Justice’s Vision of access to justice and public awareness of PPDT, towards election preparedness.
She added that the tribunal has made tremendous steps towards decentralizing services and are in the final stages of making their processes more user friendly and accessible to vulnerable members of society, including women and Persons Living with Disability who may not have legal representation.
Mugo promised to brief the Judiciary on the extra support they may require to enable them to work out fully and efficiently.
By Brightus Grace and Stacey Barasa
