- She said the NCIC has raised concerns about delays in hearing and determination of cases concerning hate speech.
- She further said all matters related to the previous general election must also be concluded on or before July 31, 2022.
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
Chief Justice Martha Koome yesterday announced the Judiciary has trained 361 magistrates to handle election-related disputes.
She further directed that all hate speech cases pending before court be concluded in the next four months.
Koome said another group of 119 judicial officers have already been identified for appointment as special magistrates to hear and determine offences under the Election Offences Act. These include hate speech.
They will be gazetted shortly.
She said courts prioritising crimes of hate speech will be set up in select hotspot areas to deal with matters falling under the National Cohesion and Integration Act.
The CJ said designated areas include Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nakuru.
She said the NCIC has raised concerns about delays in hearing and determination of cases concerning hate speech.
“We must be prepared to handle all election-related disputes expeditiously and fairly," Koome said.
"Pursuant to this, the Judiciary Committee on Elections is implementing the Judiciary’s election-preparedness work plan that includes trainings of judicial officers in collaboration with the Kenya Judiciary Academy."
She was speaking in Eldoret where she gave a keynote address at the 9th heads of stations forum which started yesterday and will run for five days.
The theme of the forum is “Effective Management, Supervision and Control for Enhanced Accountability in the Judiciary.”
To deal with delays in handling hate speech cases, Koome said she had directed heads of stations to identify all pending hate speech cases in your stations and work out modalities with the trial courts to fast track their resolution.
The CJ said a progress report on the implementation of the directive should be forwarded from each court station to the registrar of the magistrates’ courts within three months for compilation and transmission to her office.
She further said all matters related to the previous general election must also be concluded on or before July 31, 2022.
“The Constitution gives specific electoral dispute resolution timelines to safeguard the democratic organisation of our state. As such, it is a constitutional imperative to expedite connected cases.”
The directive, she said, applies across the Judiciary and in accordance with constitutional timelines.
She said progress reports on the same should be sent to her office on or before May 21, 2022.
Koome said training for High Court judges who would handle election matters have commenced while those for magistrates will be organised in nine regional cohorts/sessions running from March 9 to April 20, 2022.
The CJ said the number of the officers had been enhanced from the allocation during the previous electoral cycles to facilitate expeditious disposal of emerging disputes.
(edited by Amol Awuor)