Staff shortage hurts hearings

By MICHAEL WESONGA

A shortage of staff at the Eldoret High Court is to blame for delayed cases.

Lawyers in Eldoret have raised concern over the low number of judges deployed to dispense justice at the court.

“The posting of one judge in the environmental division in Eldoret is a minus on the part of the Judiciary. The situation has caused a backlog since Hon Munyau, the only judge in the environmental division, is forced to solely handle the bulk of cases in the region that centre on the emotive land issue,” said Mr Henry Chepkitwany, an advocate of the Kenya High Court in Eldoret.

The lawyers said there was urgent need to address staff shortage for quick dispensation of justice to ease backlog of cases in the Judiciary.

“The remaining judges are thus forced to handle civil and related attributes, commercial and succession matters. Yet succession matters are not as complex compared to land issues. The division has been ignored and handles all land matters previously handled by other judges before the shift,” Chepkitwany explained.

He said there was no proper direction from Chief Justice Willy Mutunga on whether lower courts are allowed to entertain land matters.

He said the situation had forced lawyers to file land cases at the High Court instead of the lower courts for lack of a clear provision.