15 judges head to Kisumu to clear backlog

Alarmed by the increasing backlog of cases at the Court of Appeal in Kisumu, the president of the court William Ouko will lead 15 judges to handle pending appeals.

The court has about 1,500 cases, with the majority dating back to 2014.

Prisoners continue to protest the lengthy delays in the hearing and determination of their cases.

The judges will arrive in Kisumu on Sunday and are expected to preside over cases for a week. They will also visit Kodiaga Prison.

Deputy Registrar of the court Joan Wambilyanga confirmed the planned judicial exercise, saying a cause list has been prepared.

She noted that the judges will handle the appeals of 2014 and 2015.

“The President visited the court in April this year and promised to send judges to handle the pending appeals. The service week is a followup of his promise,” said Wambliyanga.

According to court officials, the judges have been scheduled to handle about 20 cases each day with each bench expected to handle five cases per day.

The court is among the many that have been struggling to reduce backlog.

In April this year, Ouko announced that his office will constitute four benches to hear pending appeals and applications.

In 2017, the court struggled to handle election petitions filed before it, with the Judiciary also intervening to help dispense the cases.

In February, inmates at Kodiaga Prison narrated to the Ombudsman the frustrations they have been going through to access justice at the appellate.

They cited long delays, missing files as well as bribery for the delays.

Some of them claimed only those who can afford to bribe court officials manage to trace their files.