By Cyrus Ombati
Majority of Kenyans have confidence in Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga and his team of judges in the judiciary.
A survey conducted by Infotrak Research and Consulting found out that 70 percent of those polled have confidence in Dr Mutunga while 18 percent of them do not have confidence in him and the judiciary.
At the same time, majority of the same group of those sampled said they do not support the local trials of the post election violence cases.
According to the poll, 58 percent Kenyans said they do not support local mechanism while 38 percent supported the process with four saying they do not know.
Those who opposed local trials said it is only the International Criminal Court that can deliver justice, the suspects in the case are superior in society, local judges are corrupt and untrustworthy, local courts lack capability, there can be political influence, judges will be compromised, cases are already at ICC, witnesses cannot be free to testify and judges may be intimidated and influenced.
Those who supported the local trials- 38 percent- said there have been reforms in the judiciary, there is independence and competence in courts, it will save time and money and justice will prevail.
The study sampled 1,500 respondents and had a margin error of 2.7 percent at 95 percent degree of confidence. The company used literature review, quantitative face to face interviews and qualitative method with key informants and focus group discussions.
The poll was commissioned by the Kenyan Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya) to establish the public perception on the judiciary since the promulgation of the constitution. The study was conducted between June 15 and 29, 2012.
Those who said they support the CJ and other senior judiciary staff cited the ongoing vetting of judges, they have good track record, impartiality and fairness in recruitment, a change from the past while those who do not support them cited corruption which they argue is still rife and justice in Kenya is for the rich.
More than half of the respondents- 60 percent said they are aware of the ongoing reforms in the judiciary while 36 percent said they are not aware. They cited the reforms as being transparent appointment of judicial officers, automation and digitalization of court processes, vetting of judges and magistrates, establishment of Supreme Court and enhancement of access to justice.
Director of Infotrak Angela Ambitho said 66 percent of the respondents said judiciary is responsible for interpretation of the laws in Kenya while 16 percent said police interpret the law, 13 percent said Parliament interpret the law, four percent cited chiefs and assistant chiefs and one percent cited the President.
“This clearly shows there is lack of civic education on many issues and need for reforms especially in the police,” said Ambitho.
The majority of those who mentioned the courts as the institution that interpret the law were from North Eastern (93 percent), Coast (88 percent) and Nairobi (76 percent).
There is low public awareness on the existence of the Supreme Court. Ambitho said 64 percent of the respondents gave an incorrect response or did not know with 36 percent saying they know it, 35 percent said they know High Court, 21 percent Court of Appeal, two percent magistrate’s court as the highest court in the country.
The majority of those sampled- 69 percent are aware of the ongoing vetting process of the judiciary officials, the study found out.
The study established that 84 percent of the surveyed people have trust in the Kenyan courts while 13 percent do not trust the institution at all and three percent do not know.
Nyanza, Nairobi and Eastern regions gave the judiciary the highest performance rating in general at 68 percent, 61 percent and 60 percent respectively.
The study found out 36 percent of Kenyans are now satisfied with the progress of their cases in courts, 13 percent have had their cases dragging in courts for over two years to be heard and determined, 62 percent said the cost of accessing justice is unaffordable and cited cost traveling to the courts, acquiring an advocate and filing cases as a problem.
Majority of Kenyans- 61 percent have no access to legal services. 42 percent of them said Kenya National Commission on Human Rights enhance justice among Kenyans, 37 percent cited Fida Kenya, 22 percent ICC, 17 percent Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and five percent UNDP.
