Mombasa lawyers issue ultimatum over judges

Lawyers in Mombasa will petition for the removal of Chief Justice Willy Mutunga should he fail to post additional judges and magistrates at the Mombasa Law Courts within the next 14 days.

They said that Mombasa, being the second largest station in the country, has continued to be marginalised by the Judiciary.

Under the auspices of the Mombasa Law Society, a branch of the Law Society of Kenya, the lawyers want Dr Mutunga and the Judicial Service Commission to immediately deploy four High Court judges, 10 magistrates and 30 subordinate staff in the city.

Speaking at a press conference, MLS chairman Eric Nyongesa said they also want the Judiciary Training Institute to suspend training and colloquiums for Judiciary staff with immediate effect until the shortage of personnel is addressed.

“There should be a calendar for any further training at the JTI, adequate notice of at least 30 days should be given prior to any training,” said Mr Nyongesa, adding that training cannot be an emergency.

He said despite writing several letters to Dr Mutunga concerning issues affecting the dispensation of justice in Mombasa, they have not received proper response from him.

“If there is any logistical challenge he should come and explain to members, why should litigants suffer due to mismanagement of the Judiciary?” said Mr Nyongesa.

The threatened to file a petition to the JSC and other constitutional bodies to remove the CJ if their grievances are not addressed.

DEVOLVED JUSTICE

Mr Nyongesa, who was accompanied by MLS council members, said administration of justice ought to be devolved to counties in line with the Constitution.

The chairman said they will also call for mass action within Mombasa and other counties served by the courts should the CJ fail to send staff.

“We will also call for sit ins at the Mombasa Court of Appeal and Supreme Court buildings by advocates and our clients,” said Mr Nyongesa.

He added that they will also reach out for political leadership in Mombasa and and will urge prisoners to go on hunger strike in support of their campaign.

Mr Nyongesa criticised the move to have newly appointed judges clear cases pending in courts, saying they should have been deployed instead.

Mr Nyongesa claimed problems affecting Nairobi are always addressed while noting that many judges work in the city or within its radius.

According to a letter dated June 15 from the lawyers to the CJ, they also requested for an additional judge to the Environment and Land Court.

"SHORTAGE OF MAGISTRATES'

But the Judiciary on Monday evening responded to the issues raised by the lawyers.

"In the case of Mombasa, it is incorrect to allege discrimination when one considers that the station has five judges with a caseload of 10,423 matters, while the Milimani High Court Civil Division alone has five judges dealing with a caseload of 32,000 matters.

"Contrary to LSK’s assertion that Mombasa does not have a Deputy Registrar, the correct position is that a DR is in-post in Mombasa and a new one reports in two weeks' time," the Judiciary said in a statement, which acknowledged a shortage of magistrate.

"Regarding magistrates, the Judiciary has a national establishment of 426 magistrates who are meant to serve 116 court stations. The Judiciary has suffered a shortage of magistrates over time for various factors. This, as facts show, makes it difficult to meet the demand.

"However, we try to do our best in our deployment strategy. In the case of Mombasa, two new Principal Magistrates and one Resident Magistrate have been deployed and should start work in two weeks. Additionally, three new magistrates are in the process of being deployed to the Admiralty Division in Mombasa.

"Similarly, a new Senior Principal Magistrate has been posted to Kwale and another to Shanzu. Lamu has a new PM as well. These deployments should address the jurisdictional issues raised by LSK. … It is also true that the Judiciary has a severe shortage of administrative staff but the situation should improve across the country when the Judicial Service Commission fills over 1,000 vacancies it advertised recently."

The statement defended the Judiciary, saying it is "doing its best to manage service delivery amid constraints and limitations that are well known to our LSK partners", citing the reduction of its budget as one such limitation. "However," the statement concludes, "we are happy, as has been our practice, to continue engaging with LSK to find solutions and options to the challenges we face."