HomeIn Kenya, we have a cancer that has reared its ugly head for decades and doesn’t seem to go anywhere. What do I mean? Let’s talk about our ineffective justice system which is the mother of impunity. It’s like we are allergic to accountability and averse to perpetrators facing justice for crimes committed.
Kenyans have lost their faith in the criminal justice system and in the judiciary as a whole. Time after time the judiciary has been the weakest link to accessing justice. Why? Simply because cases are delayed and victims end up giving up hope of ever receiving reparations for crimes that were committed against them.
To add insult to injury, when cases come to a conclusion, the powerful and mighty usually get slaps on the wrist and walk away scot free. This might be through cheap fines or ineffective enforcement of court orders.
Take the 200/2008 post-election violence cases that have been in court since 2013. When the cases were almost coming to a conclusion, after so many unexplainable delays, the Covid-19 pandemic set in.
According to an All Africa article, when the court proceedings resumed, the witnesses and victims decided to ask the court to admit written submissions. They chose to go by their written submissions over oral so that they can save time.
However, a rude shock hit them when the case was delayed further due to the government’s affidavits missing mysteriously from the court’s records.
That is just one example of the many sensitive cases that have been delayed under unexplainable circumstances. International Justice Mission’s Willie Kimani, his client and their driver murder cases have never been concluded almost seven years later. Time doesn’t allow me to cite the case of Ivy Wangechi. She was a sixth-year medical student at Moi University who was murdered in public with an axe. Though the alleged perpetrator was arrested and arraigned in court, the case still drags on.
There is a lot of mediocrity in some Kenyan courts. Some of the flimsy reasons stated to occasion the delays are that the defence lawyers are sick, government lawyers need time to read the plaintiff’s affidavits, public prosecutors travelling for official duty and so on.
The victims of sexual abuse, police brutality, families of slain victims, displaced persons and other vulnerable people suffer the most from this kind of below average administration of justice. They spend a lot of time and money pursuing justice to no avail.
Civil society should research this vice and come up with solutions because it’s an area that is largely ignored.
