Judiciary recognises best performing courts

Machakos High Court and the Court of Appeal in Malindi have been recognised for their performance.

Justice Pauline Nyamweya presides over the Machakos High Court while the appellate court in Malindi has judges Alnashir Visram, Martha Koome and Wanjiru Karanja.

In an award ceremony conducted by the Judiciary on Friday, Justice Stephen Radido, formerly of Nakuru, and Justice John Mutungi were also rated the best in the Employment and Labour Relations Court and the Environment and Land Court categories respectively.

In the ceremony presided over by Chief Justice David Maraga, the Court of Appeal in Malindi emerged the best after reducing case backlog by 62 per cent.

CASH AWARD

The second best performing High Court was Voi, which is presided over by Justice Jacqueline Kamau.

The Tononoka magistrate court was named the best in handling children’s matters with Ms Viola Yator having cleared 193 cases in one year.

Justice Maraga said other than certificates, the best performing court would receive Sh150,000 each for projects of their choice in the courts they serve.

Other courts that were awarded were Mpeketoni magistrates’ court, Makadara, Wajir, Kangema, Embu law courts and Murang’a Kadhi court.

Justice Maraga said other than certificates, the best performing court would receive Sh150,000 each for projects of their own choice in the court’s they serve.

BACKLOGS
Court of Appeal judge Agnes Murgor, who is the chairperson of the Performance Management and Measurement Steering Committee, said that case backlog is still a major hindrance and the reasons cited were adjournments, which were both internal and external.

“For instance, an analysis of High Court monthly statistics for the period July 2017 to March 2018 shows that the major reasons for adjournments of cases were “parties not present”, “parties not ready”, “court not sitting”, “advocates not present,” and “Advocates not ready”.

"This accounts for over 60 per cent of the reasons for adjournment,” she said. 

Justice Murgor said the performance measurement assists the Judiciary to understand the size and nature of the case load, the number of cases filed on a daily basis, how fast they are being cleared, and the reasons that can be attributed to delays.

SERVICE DELIVERY
She said the event was not about winners and losers in performance evaluation, rather it was about reflecting on the collective and individual contribution that all implementing units, judges, judicial officers and staff have made towards enhancing service delivery.

“This in turn measures the success of the Judiciary for the period under review. 

"As colleagues, we need to remind ourselves that quality services require dedication and hard work, often demanding of us that we go beyond the call of duty,” she said.

The second best performing High Court in the caseload category was Voi, which is presided over by Justice Jacqueline Kamau. The court cleared 331 cases within one year.

Justice Mumbi Ngugi of the High Court in Kericho cleared 221 cases during the same period.