High Court records rise in millitary cases

By Kamau Muthoni

NAIROBI, KENYA: The High Court in Nairobi has realised a rise in cases filed by Military officers who are either trying  to stop  court Martial proceedings against them, reverting rulings by the subordinate court or seeking compensation after being dismissed by same.

The cases that have majorly been filed in the industrial court and the judicial review division in the High court expressly craft the court martial as an instrument that can never deliver justice to the officers in the discipline forces prompting them to seek for redress.

This year alone, more than 20 officers in different cases are contesting the decision of the court martial citing that they will either be unfairly tried and also that the constitution of the members siting in the same has been a ground of a legal battle.

According to constitutional lawyer John Were, the officers are challenging the decision of the martial in other courts instead of filing for a review as many of them feel that they can never find a positive outcome in the courts formed in the barracks.                       

“I believe that the composition of the martial do not follow the constitution when being formed and as a result the verdicts passed are biased and against the law,” says Were.

Amongst the high military profile cases in the court include one filed by a senior Military officer who wants the High Court to put down all the proceedings instituted against him in a court martial and that it be restrained from hearing the same on the grounds that it was not properly instituted.