Expansion: Judiciary opens 36th High Court

A High Court has been opened in the county.

The Kiambu High Court, which is the 36th in the country, will be headed by Justice Joel Ngugi. Until his appointment, the judge was the Director of Judiciary Training Institute.

Speaking when commissioning the court, High Court Principal Judge Richard Mwongo said the court will reduce case backlog at the High Court in Nairobi.

Justice Mwongo said additional judges will soon be brought in for the various divisions as well as deal with the anticipated high traffic of cases.

"Statistics in our possession show there are 11,000 ongoing court cases from both Kiambu and Thika stations. It is a populous county and the court has come at the right time," he said.

The Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Ann Amadi said the Judiciary was keen on bringing justice closer to the people, adding that plans to open high courts in the remaining 12 counties were underway. She said the location of the court in Kiambu was still not yet decided.

"It is upon the people of Kiambu to decide where they want the court to be. The Judiciary will not be part of the debate. We shall respect the people's wish," said Ms Amadi.

She said Justice Ngugi will be sitting for three weeks in Kiambu town and one week in Thika before the exact location of the court is decided. Ngugi, who is the pioneer judge of the court, pledged to ensure it became a model High Court in the country.

Judicial independence

He said as the head of the station, he would ensure the independence of the Judiciary was upheld to ensure justice is delivered.

Lawyer Leonard Karuri urged his colleagues to lower their legal fees since the High Court was now nearer.

"It is my appeal to the advocates to ensure the proximity of the new court is passed on to their clients. They should consider lowering the legal fees charges since they will now no longer be required to travel to Nairobi or Murang'a," Mr Karuri said.

"Backlog of cases will be a thing of the past. We will ensure that justice is dispensed in a timely manner."