Paul Muite warns against graft in Judiciary

By Patrick Kibet

Nakuru, Kenya: Senior Counsel Paul Muite has warned that corruption is creeping back to the Judiciary, despite tough measures introduced after the Constitution was promulgated in 2010.

Muite, who was addressing a seminar organised by the Law Society of Kenya in Nakuru, said the fight against corruption should take a holistic approach and should not focus only on judges and magistrates.

“We need to acknowledge that corruption has crept back despite the Constitution which required vetting of all judges and magistrates,” he said. The vetting exercise, which was launched two years ago to restore public confidence in the Judiciary, has so far seen 53 judges and 72 magistrates vetted by the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board.

Muite said if corruption is not checked, there would be a breakdown in public confidence. He challenged lawyers to be at the forefront in eliminating the vice. “You can’t expect judges or magistrates to be corrupt free while the rest of system perpetrates the vice,” he added.

He added that the Judiciary should embrace technology and allow proceedings in all courtrooms to be recorded verbatim contrary to the practice where judges and magistrates take notes during court sessions.