Relief for Nandi residents seeking justice as third court is set up
The Judiciary has established a third court in Nandi County, a move that is expected to ease congestion at the Kapsabet Law Courts.
The new Kabiyet Law Courts in Mosop will allow more than 800 cases from the constituency now pending in the Kapsabet courthouse to be expedited.
The building housing the new courthouse was refurbished with money from the Mosop National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).
Judiciary Chief Registrar
Unveiling the court on Monday, Judiciary Chief Registrar Anne Amadi said the Kabiyet courthouse is the sixth to be established with funding from the NG-CDF and the second in Nandi County after the Tinderet one, bringing the total number of courts in the county to three.
A month ago, Ms Amadi opened another law court in Tindiret sub-county.
“The Judiciary will endeavour to match the beauty of the building with excellence in service delivery,” she said when she received the new courthouse, which has two court rooms, a registry and two chambers, among other facilities.
“The Judiciary will make the court ICT-ready to enable advocates practising from Eldoret and Kapsabet to take part in virtual courts in tandem with their counterparts in other parts of the country where ICT has been deployed as an enabler of justice,” said Ms Amadi.
Committed
Noting that Chief Justice Martha Koome and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) are committed to taking justice closer to the people, Ms Amadi said 65 magistrates and 700 court clerks recruited by the JSC last year were posted in courts across the country.
Ms Amadi said that despite the budgetary constraints, the JSC was committed to meeting high demand from citizens seeking justice in courts.
In the past one year, Ms Amadi said, six law courts have been established after being refurbished under the NG-CDF in five counties – Kilifi, Kiambu, Muranga, Kisumu and recently Nandi.
The courts are Msambweni, Kenol, Ruiru, Rarieda and Tinderet.
Refurbished with CDF funding
She said the two law courts in Nandi existed during the Nandi Resistance against British colonial rule and had been refurbished with CDF funding.
She lauded Tindiret MP Julius Meli and his Mosop counterpart Vincent Tuwei for allocating CDF funds for the two new law courts in efforts to bring justice closer to residents.
She said the JSC will continue to establish new courts across the country so that Kenyans don’t have to travel long distances and spend huge amounts of money to seek justice.
MPs laud judiciary
Mr Tuwei and Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei lauded the Judiciary for the new development, noting that for years, locals travelled many kilometres to the Kapsabet courthouse to seek justice.
Mr Cheragei said many courts were too old and dilapidated and needed renovation and expansion.
He urged the National Assembly to allocate the Judiciary sufficient funds, noting that it is increasingly relying on partnerships with county governments to enhance access to justice.
Mr Tuwei, for his part, said the courthouse in Kabiyet will serve 134,000 people who had depended on the Kapsabet and Eldoret courthouses.
Establishing a courthouse in Kabiyet is part of efforts to meet the constitutional requirement that every sub-county have such a facility.
The MP revealed that adjacent land had been donated to set up a High Court station in Kabiyet. Nandi County has no High Court and relies on the one in Eldoret in neighbouring Uasin Gishu County.
Kapsabet Environment and Land Judge Michael Mwanyale noted that justice had come full cycle to Kabiyet since the court was first established in 1905 during the Nandi Resistance.
“The court has now been re-established at Kabiyet 117 years later,” he observed.
Last year, angry residents staged a demonstration against Aldai MP Cornelius Serem, who wanted to have a courthouse established in Kaptumo.
Mr Serem’s rivals, led by Governor Stephen Sang, wanted it set up in Kobujoi, where they said land is available.
The Judiciary resolved the issue and announced the courthouse would be established in Kobujoi because land and government buildings are available.
The MP and his supporters gave in to public demand because of the perception that Kobujoi was neutral ground. BY DAILY NATION
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