Chief Justice Martha Koome admits Judiciary is riddled with corruption

Chief Justice Martha Koome has expressed concern that corruption is re-emerging in the Judiciary, and is undermining public confidence.

Justice Koome noted that several cases of corruption involving staff have been reported to her office and warned that this behaviour will not be tolerated, emphasizing that appropriate action will be taken.

To tackle this issue, she announced the formation of an integrity committee in all courts, which will include officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), to address this emerging problem.

She was speaking during this year’s magistrates and kadhis colloquium in Naivasha.  The theme of the meeting was digital transformation, technology, and the law.

Addressing the magistrates, Koome said that Judiciary performance was currently under public scrutiny as was the quality of service provision across the country.

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“Allegations of graft in the Judiciary cannot be ignored, and we should strive to make sure that we work in a corruption-free society as the public has a lot of faith in us,” Koome said.

She added that in some stations, staff were demanding facilitation fees to assist members of the public.

“We have formed a court integrity committee that will have representation from different quarters, including EACC, LSK, court users among others,” she said.

During the meeting, Justice Koome put magistrates on notice over frequent adjournment of cases, noting that this had led to an increase in backlog.

On digital transformation, she said the Judiciary was keen to transform its operations by digitising all its services as one way of improving service delivery.

Chief Registrar Winfridah Mokaya lauded the work of the small claims court in assisting members of the public access justice fast.

Mokaya said Koome had appointed a committee to look into the challenges facing the small claims courts with a view of improving service delivery.