The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has put in place plans to increase the judicial facilities across Kenya in its attempt to increase the accessibility to judicial services to Kenyans.
In this regard, Migori County is set to be among the beneficiary counties with more courts and judicial facilities set to ensure everyone finds justice cheaply.
Speaking during a courtesy call by the JSC to his office, Governor Ochillo Ayacko said that his administration is open to partnering with the national government to achieve this.
The engagement which involved members of the Judicial Service Commission, the Migori County Executive, and representatives from Migori Law Courts resolved to establish a County Court to fast-track cases and enhance county legislation.
He said that this is in support of the JSC’s effort to make justice cheap to access apart from hastening the judicial service delivery, a core mandate of the JSC.
“The Judicial Service Commission has indicated to us their desire for us to become a partner in putting up other judicial facilities to enhance more accessibility to justice for the residents of Migori County,” said Governor Ayacko.
Ayacko stressed the requirement by the law for every sub-county to have a judicial station from where the people will access justice and as an administration, the county government will facilitate that.
“Even though it is not our core mandate as a county, but as a county, we are working on ways to allocate resources and enabling environment for the establishment of more judicial service institutions,” said Governor Ayacko.
The Governor underscored the need to work together with the national government institutions such as JSC to fasten the ever-increasing backlog of unresolved cases hindering justice in Kenya.
“We live in a county that is diverse and we all want our disputes to be solved in a civilized manner and this is only possible when we work together with JSC and other leaders,” said Ayacko.
Chief Magistrate Everline Olwande who led the JSC team said who admitted that out of 8 sub-counties, 4 do not have courts, making all disputes pile up hence delaying justice delivery.
She said that the discourse will see the completion of a court in Nyatike and the construction of one in Mabera where land has already been allocated.
“We have resolved to complete an ongoing construction of a courtroom in Nyatike where there is already a mobile court and another in Mabera,” said Ms. Olwande.
She appreciated the warm welcome and the willingness of the county to provide more land for the construction of more courts.
“We take this chance to thank the County government of Migori for accepting to partner with us to ensure access to justice is upheld by allocating lands for such projects,” Olwande added.
She, however, encouraged the members of JSC to remain steadfast to the oath of office and serve the people of Kenya while also beseeching other arms of government to observe the independence of the Judiciary.
The delegation consisted of three Judicial Service Commissioners, officials from the JSC Secretariat, and representatives from Migori Law Court led by Justice Roselyn Wendo
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