Chief Justice David Maraga has urged new magistrates to make sure they take charge of their courtrooms to ensure they effectively manage cases and matters that are before them. Speaking during the swearing in of the 47 magistrates at the Supreme Court in Nairobi, CJ Maraga noted that delay is among the troubling issues facing the Judiciary, “You must have seen the media reports on the Corruption Conference held at the Bomas of Kenya last week, we were heavily and roundly criticized mainly for delay and corruption,” he said.
He told the magistrates to be wary of endless adjournment of cases, which have caused case backlog in the system, “The public is fed up with the kind of handling of cases where you are very quick to grant adjournments even when it’s not deserved at all.” He said they’ll be keenly following the magistrates’ management of the court cases, adding that when it comes to criminal cases, they should familiarize themselves with the Bonds and Sentences Policies, “The reasons why they were developed is because of the great disparities we noted within our courts,” he said.
The Chief Justice reminded the magistrates the office they have assumed is an office of prestige and status, but also one of great responsibility that demands professionalism, dedication, impartiality, “The constitution promises the people of Kenya among other things that you as a magistrate will do justice to all persons irrespective of status that you shall deliver justice,” he affirmed. He also spoke of the JUdiciary’s war on graft, saying they can’t be handling corruption cases while abetting corruption within its corridors.