Chief Justice David Maraga has honoured the call by President Uhuru Kenyatta that he facilitates the fight against corruption by speeding up disposal of graft cases.
The CJ, who was , said that he will start the fight against the vice by weeding out judiciary staff implicated in corruption.
Maraga said the group - a paltry ten per cent of the entire judiciary team - are responsible for the negative image the institution suffers.
He said that judges and junior staff found guilty of impeding the fight against corruption will not be spared in the purge.
And to address the vice, Maraga said that he will strengthen the office of the Ombudsman to investigate corruption cases.
"The office will investigate corruption cases and hand over the same to JSC. We shall then take decisive action against any judge found guilty," he said.
He added that accused judges would be given ample time to defend themselves, further challenging the judiciary to cooperate with him in fighting the vice.
The CJ made the comments while addressing Judges of the High Court at the end of a four-day workshop at Great Rift Valley Lodge, Naivasha.
He told the group that the President and DP William Ruto had raised concern over statutory orders being issued by some judges.
Maraga said that some of the orders were affecting development projects. He further challenged the judges to be bear in mind the consequences of the orders.
"The President has a point on these orders and they are challenging us to be fast in issuing judgements as we do to injunctions," he said.
Maraga also shared with the judges that MPs are also concerned about interference with parliament's independence by the judiciary.
"The MPs are accusing judiciary of interfering with their operations but I reminded them that the court has no jurisdiction," he said.
On case backlog, the CJ said that there over 600,000 cases pending in various courts across the country - some lasting for over ten years.
He said that he had set an advisory committee to help address the cases, adding that they would start with cases that were over five years old.
"We plan to address and resolve these cases within one year. I am appealing to you judges to be firm and make sure that we deal with the backlog," he said.
The CJ said that there was a major outcry from the public over the high number of cases pending in the courts.
"You are the face of judiciary. I am urging you to dispense these cases as some are holding back businesses and affecting investments," he said.
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