The Judiciary is struggling to portray a positive image amid wrangles from within and a tug of war with the Executive and Parliament.

Even as 38 judges face retirement under controversial circumstances, President Uhuru Kenyatta is yet to appoint 25 judges whose names were forwarded to him by the Judicial Service Commission chaired by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.

According to official records, Kenya has 112 judges – seven in the Supreme Court, 26 in the Court of Appeal while 79 serve in the High Court. With the bad blood between the Executive and JSC, and the delay in the appointment of new judges, the retirement could leave a big hole in an institution struggling to deal with case backlogs.

Yesterday, JSC Chief Registrar  Anne Amadi said JSC was aware of how much the shortage of judicial officers was affecting delivery of justice.

“Regarding the issue of 25 judges recommended for appointment, the JSC did its part and conversations are going on regarding their swearing in,” Amadi said in an email message to The Standard on Saturday.

“The issue is important in light of the Judiciary’s commitment to facilitating access to justice across the country, which has seen the establishment of several High Court Registries, which require more capacity.”

 

Corruption  allegations

Even then, a succession of internal disputes and corruption allegations against the Judiciary continue to dent the confidence and faith of Kenyans in the crucial arm of government.

Critics have argued that the Judiciary has further tainted its public image in recent months by failing to manage its internal affairs.

There have been increased disputes among its members of staff, with some of them either being dismissed or interdicted over corruption allegations.

In October last year, former Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Gladys Shollei was sacked over what JSC termed abuse of office and mismanagement.

The Industrial Court later ruled that her dismissal was unconstitutional, quashing her dismissal letter. This raised questions on the credibility of the institution.

Early last month, Deputy Chief Registrar Kaikai Kissinger, Director of Human Resource and Management Dismus Obondo, Director for Supply Chain Management Martin Okwata and ICT director Thomas Atak were interdicted over corruption allegations.

A survey carried out by Ipsos Synovate shows that public confidence in the Supreme Court has fallen by 12 per cent since November last year, while confidence in the High Court and local magistrate courts across the country fell by seven per cent.

Policy and Conflict Executive Director Ndung’u Wainaina said several aspects must be addressed in detail.