• Thanks to his daughters, he has also picked up a habit of watching television documentaries.
• The kids won't let him go past the gate owing to his age.
Gardening is his new passion.
Appeal judge William Ouko discovered a new type of grass and is excited about it. It is called Pemba (buffalo).
For most part of the day, he works from home, writing judgments and hearing cases. But when he gets time Justice Ouko gets his hands dirty planting grass.
Thanks to his daughters, he has also picked up a habit of watching television documentaries.
“My daughters have introduced me to TV. Tonight, we are watching Trump: An American Dream. Last night we watched Quincy…about Quincy Delight Jones Jr, an American record producer, film and television producer,” the judge said.
The Court of Appeal president says he has learnt not to take life for granted as the world battles coronavirus.
“We take life for granted. We believe we [will] live forever and now we see this thing [coronavirus] that takes people even in a week. At no time in life did I ever imagine the whole world would come to a standstill,” Ouko said.
The judge, like most judicial officers, is working from home to ensure the wheels of justice continue to grind.
The government has encouraged citizens, especially those at high risk of succumbing to Covid-19, to work at home to help slow the spread of the virus.
The high-risk people include those with pre-existing conditions and the elderly.
We take life for granted. We believe we [will] live forever and now we see this thing [coronavirus] that takes people even in a week. At no time in life did I ever imagine the whole world would come to a standstillOuko
Ouko says it’s not all gloom and doom.
As a result of working from home, he gets to spend more time with his nuclear family, something he could only dream of before Covid-19.
“With the kind of work we do we hardly get time to spend with our families because if we are not hearing cases, we are writing judgments. Occasionally, like weekends, we might be in conferences but now we have time with our families,” he told the Star.
Embracing technology in their day to day work, however, has come with unique challenges.
Hearing cases via video conferencing takes away a number of things that judges treasure, such as the ability to ask questions and clarify matters.
“It [virtual court hearing] is not what lawyers are trained to do. In the normal practice of law where you have people appear before you and you ask questions and clarify things, as it is, that is missing. But we are doing our level best to ensure cases are heard,” Ouko said.
He believes the Judiciary should use this opportunity to fully roll out the digitisation of court systems.
“We need to use this to shift to a digital court system. When this happened in places like the US, where digitisation has been embraced, it wasn’t shocking. They just switched to their plan B, whereas on our side we have to cross-check with prison services or other actors in the justice system if they have internet and how to make the virtual court work.”
Though the judges are doing their level best to handle matters, the scaling down of court operations has affected the administration of justice.
Courts are not functioning to full capacity and all players in the justice sector are more or less at a standstill.
To remedy this the National Committee on Administration of Justice held a virtual meeting on Wednesday to discuss how to ensure Kenyans get services.
For example, the team is exploring how to scale up court sittings by looking at what is practical in line with the Health ministry's guidelines on the use of hand sanitiser, observing social distance and wearing face masks, among others.
The NCAJ is looking into how to implement this by April 22.
It [virtual court hearing] is not what lawyers are trained to do. In the normal practice of law where you have people appear before you and you ask questions and clarify things, as it is, that is missing. But we are doing our level best to ensure cases are heardOuko
Another challenge posed by working at home is the inability to avoid taking breaks, lack of library resources, which are available at the courts, and lack of researchers, among others.
“My children are grown up, apart from one who is 15. I don’t have the interruption of toddlers but one always finds a reason for getting up from the desk, sometimes to fix coffee. It's difficult compared to working from the office.”
When he is not working, judge Ouko writes his memoir with the help of his daughter.
“My kids can’t let me go outside the gate because of my age,” he said.
“I am also writing my memoirs with the help of my daughter, we are reviewing chapter one.”
Ouko is currently reading a book titled Scalia: A Court of One. It is a biography of one of most brilliant outspoken US Supreme Court justices.
The book, the judge says, was gifted to him by Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto and he enjoys reading it.
In his view, judges should use this opportunity to work on delayed judgments.
Ouko called on lawyers to support the Judiciary because they need each other.
“Like an African stool with three legs they are one leg and without them we are nothing,” he said.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya