Rao team happy with vetting

Kisumu, Kenya; Over 45 judicial officers in western Kenya have been vetted by the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board sitting in Kisumu.

With three weeks to wind up the assignment in the region, Chairman Sharad Rao has expressed confidence that the process is a success as this was the board's first sitting out of Nairobi.

Speaking at the University of Nairobi's School of Law, Kisumu Campus, where he addressed law students on the work of the board, Mr Rao said the board had less than 20 magistrates to vet before it moves to Mombasa.

The sitting in Kisumu is expected to see over 60 magistrates serving in the wider Nyanza, Western and Rift Valley regions vetted.

Rao said the board's decision to conduct vetting out of Nairobi has been fruitful as it has reduced disruption of the schedules of the officers undergoing vetting. It has also saved time and resources that would have been spent if the process took place in the capital city.

"Our stay in Kisumu has been very successful and coming closer to the people has been a motivation to the magistrates and the stakeholders who have been giving us reports and complaints against the magistrates," said Rao.

Even with the off-and-on judicial actions against the board's decisions, it is expected to complete its mandate in December with the final report on the vetting of all judges and magistrates to be compiled by January next year.

WITHIN SCHEDULE

Several appeals have been made by aggrieved judges over the decision of the board to declare them unsuitable to hold office, a situation which has delayed the board's work.

The judicial officers are also bound to the vetting process if they have to continue serving.

Rao, however, hinted at a possibility of extension of the board's schedule, saying it has lost nine months in court processes.

"I am confident that the vetting will end within schedule but I believe Parliament will have to consider a few magistrates will not habe been vetted," he said.

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Sharad Rao