Chief Justice Martha Koome is set to launch a Small Claims Court to serve Machakos and Makueni residents.
The court will be established at the Machakos Law Courts.
According to the Judiciary, the Small Claims Court is a subordinate court with a monetary jurisdiction of matters not exceeding Sh1 million.
The courts are intended to reduce a backlog of cases by having disputes resolved through simple, inexpensive and expeditious procedures, thus enhancing access to justice.
The first Small Claim Court was established at Milimani Law Court and began its functions in April 2021.
A total of 5,080 matters had been filed, of which 2,347 cases had been heard and determined as of January 31, 2022.
This Small Claim Court is operated by 10 adjudicators.
CJ Koome established 11 Small Claim Courts in Naivasha, Thika, Nyeri, Meru, Machakos, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, Kakamega and Kajiado, in December 2021.
“Further, I designated 20 adjudicators to serve in these courts, bringing the total number of adjudicators to 25. As of January 31, 2022, Kajiado and Thika SCCs had been operationalized. It is our vision that by the end of this year, we will have rolled out 100 Small Claims Courts across the country,” Koome said.
Koome expressed her gratitude to the National Government through Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) for the ongoing collaboration in the deployment of the SCCs to the other 4 sites, Kasarani, Dagorreti, Kayole and Mukuru (Gusta Nyayo).
She requested the County Government and National Government – Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) committees and leaders at the local level to work together with the Judiciary to extend the reach of the SCCs.
The CJ urged the contractors working on the Small Claim Court Rollout Plan to work tirelessly to deliver with quality the projects within the set timelines. BY THE STAR