The
Judiciary’s plan of establishing a High Court station in every County in
Kenya edged a step closer after Chief Justice David Maraga laid a foundation
stone for a 390 million shillings High Court building in Kwale County. In an event attended by Kwale
Governor Salim Mvurya, the Chief Justice said the Judiciary will post a High
Court Judge to Kwale as soon as the building is complete.
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| CJ David Maraga (L) and Governor Mvurya at the project site. |
So
far, there are 39 High Court stations in 38 out of the 47 counties in Kenya.
Besides the Kwale County project, construction is ongoing in Isiolo where a
High Court is also forthcoming.
The Kwale High Court is being
constructed on a three acre piece of land donated to the Judiciary by the
County Government.
The Chief Justice who is also
the President of the Supreme Court of Kenya formally received the Msambweni
Kadhi’s Court from the Kwale County leadership. The Kadhi’s Court construction
was funded by the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Chief Justive Maraga
expressed his gratitude to the people of Msambweni Sub County for prioritizing
the construction of a Kadhi’s Court despite the many competing priorities that
CDF has to contend with. He further said that the Judiciary will consider
expanding the Msambweni Kadhi’s court to a full fledged Magistrate’s Court in
order to expand the jurisdiction of the Court and bring justice closer to the
people.
The Judiciary
has committed to building Magistrates’ Courts in all the 290 Sub Counties
(constituencies) in the country.
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| Governor Mvurya (L) with CJ David Maraga (R). |
The Chief Justice says other
steps that will be taken to improve administration of justice, will be the
immediate establishment of a High Court Sub-Registry at Kwale Law Courts, so
that High Court matters do not have to go all the way to Mombasa County.
Governor Mvurya and other leaders asked the Chief Justice to establish Magistrates
Courts in Ukunda and Lunga Lunga areas and pledged to provide land for the
projects.
As part of the Judiciary’s
effort to entrench integrity and ensure efficient delivery of services, a
representative of the office of Judiciary Ombudsman will be stationed at the
Kwale Law Courts. The office receives and processes complaints from court
users.
The five storey Kwale High
Court will have eight Courtrooms, nine Chambers, a Huduma Centre, police
and prison cells – both segregated for male and females; Judges’ lounge; Magistrates’
lounge, lactating rooms for mothers; offices for DPP; Probation and other NCAJ
agencies; Registries, Archives, stores and library. The court design incorporates
views from the local community, gathered through the Court Users
Committee which was represented at the launch.
Source: Directorate of Public Affairs
and Communication - Judiciary
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