CJ Maraga puts lazy contractors on notice

All contractors engaged in the World Bank sponsored Judiciary Performance Improvement Project to complete work by October next year or be thrown out, Chief Justice David Maraga has said.

The Judiciary is implementing more than 56 projects across the country. Out of these, 31 are funded by the exchequer while 25 of them are supported by JPIP which has supported many court projects over the past six years.

“I ask the contractors who are engaged in the JPIP- funded projects to ensure they complete them within the strict timelines of the funding programme, now extended until the end of October next year,” he said.

We will not hesitate to terminate contracts where we realise the contractors are incapable of completing work on time, Maraga said. 

The CJ expressed confidence that many of the government funded projects that have in the past year suffered unfortunate delays due to hitches in funding will progress by end of the current financial year following allocation for the Judiciary in the 2019-2020 budget.

Maraga made the remarks on Friday when he opened the newly constructed Vihiga law courts near Majengo town on Friday.

He said that Vihiga is one of our busiest court stations, with a particularly high number of criminal cases.

In the past year more than 1,800 criminal cases were filed compared to just over 390 civil cases.

“I am happy to see that 94 percent of the criminal cases at this station are concluded within one year which is significantly better than the national average of 84 percent,” he said. 

The court was first established at Mbale as an African Court Tribunal during the colonial days way back in 1936.

The court was headed by a Court President, who was equivalent to today’s Senior Resident Magistrate and dealt mainly with Civil and Land matters. 

The CJ said that the Court Users Committees’ co-operation with the judiciary had contributed immensely in the streamlining the delivery of justice witnessed in Kenya today.

He said that efforts by the judiciary to take justice closer to the people through court projects was solely for the benefit of the common citizen, some of who previously had to travel very long distances to have their cases heard.

(Edited by P Wanambsis)