Mediation way to go in succession matters, residents told

Residents of Bomet have been urged to embrace mediation as a way of reducing case backlog in courts.

Mediation is a process where rival parties sit down, air out their issues and arrive at amicable decision through the assistance of a mediator.

Bomet High Court judge Roselyn Korir said the increasing and longstanding land and family disputes in the county can only be reduced if the parties involved agree to settle the matters out of court.

Korir said there is need to pursue the mediation because the cases take longer time of up to three to five years to be concluded.

Succession cases, she said, account for 372 out of the 940 pending before the Bomet High Court.

"Murder, assault, grievous bodily harm and creating disturbance are the leading causes of criminal cases, and which arise from family disputes and inheritance issues," she said.

The court annexed mediation, she said, reduces costs that would have been incurred in court and ensures parties in the case continue to maintain relationships when the issue is settled.

She also said plea bargaining and diversion mechanism, in collaboration with office of DPP, have also been employed by the court, which has proven to reduce the cases being handled at the court.

"We have also carried out community outreach programmes to sensitise the members of the public on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and issues that leads to numerous cases in court," she said.

Bomet Governor Hillary Barchok, in a speech read by his Deputy Shadrack Rotich, lauded the Judiciary for introducing the  alternative mechanisms.

He said the mechanisms will go along way in delivering justice to the citizens in a timely and amicable manner.

(edited by Amol Awuor)