April 1-15, 2011
ISSUE 037
A bimonthly newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of African Woman and Child Feature Service
What ought to be the real story behind judicial appointments? Justice for the common man takes the back burner as politics overrides Kenyans’ thinking By REJECT WRITER The matter of the appointment of the next Chief Justice has been treated as if it were no more than a question of Ruto says, Kibaki appoints, Raila wants, Uhuru argues. As a result, public debate on the subject has been reduced to the level of party politics and the race to “own” the next Chief Justice. Kenyans have been kept busy talking of the next Chief Justice and his effect on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and on the forth coming General Election 2012. Even after the position was advertised and rightly turned into a (supposedly) competitive process, Kenyans are still discussing the next appointment as a matter of influence peddling in line with which aspiring lawyer has access to which political bigwig.
Justice for all
And yet the real questions before us should be: “How can this country better administer justice to the millions of Kenyans on the periphery of political manoeuvrings?” No-one is asking the critical questions: Does the Judiciary have any presence beyond the old provincial and district headquarters? What does justice look like in Kacheliba? What is the face of judicial order in Mwatate? How many people man the courts in Tana River, Leisamis, Lodwar, Lokichoggio and Kakuma? In Narok, the constant flooding and long distances make it impossible for the people of the area to attend all court cases. Normally the
poor infrastructure has been a stumbling block to one attending court sessions and this has created a backlog of cases. In the northern frontier, normal court sessions are held using mobile courts. These are facilities that people have to wait for to come to their areas before justice can be administered. Those in Tana River delta and Lamu are now relying on the new courts that have been built in Malindi. Though welcome, the people from Tana River Constituency still have to travel very From top: The Nairobi Law Courts that houses the superior High Court long distances to access justice. This and Court of Appeal where judges (above) hold brief. Inset: Immediate could be a deterring factor for many in former Chief Justice Evan Gicheru. Pictures: Reject Correspondent their quest to access justice. In Pokot and Turkana infrastruclenge. The language barrier is also a deterrent to judicial processes. ture plays a key role as they attempt the people as high levels of illiteracy have made How does it compare with the number to administer justice. Roads and lack of proper use of the English and Kiswahili a setback in the manning provincial administration or the local transport network to the courts remains a chalschools or hospital? How many murder cases were filled in the circuit courts in, say, northern Kenya and how did our (corrupt?) judiciary (mis)manage these cases and what resources were available to them to enable their work? Today, the Reject asks do we still have mobile/ circuit courts and without the physical edifice, how do scattered populations in these neglected areas relate to the idea of (an efficient) judicial order? And what does a day in the life of a circuit judge look like lest, once again, we have the wrong people applying for the wrong job charmed by its robes rather than by its substance? Continued on page 2
No-one is asking the critical questions: Does the Judiciary have any presence beyond the old provincial and district headquarters? What does justice look like in Kacheliba? What is the face of judicial order in Mwatate? How many people man the courts in Tana River, Leisamis, Lodwar, Lokichoggio and Kakuma?
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