The Registrar of Kisumu law courts Evelyn Olwande has decried deficiency in staffing within Kisumu Courts
“We have engaged with the ministry on staffing and the need for more staffing especially the court of appeal that is acutely understaffed with only three judges and given that the court of appeal sits in benches of three meaning that if there is any emergency like sickness then the court cannot sit so they need an extra court of appeal judge and an high court judge since the workload in Kisumu vis-a-vis the number of judges is not manageable so they need judicial officials throughout the rank and more judicial staff.
We have been engaging with the judicial officers and judges at Kisumu law courts and so far we have received reports about their performance and am happy to report that they are doing very well and its one of few stations that we have been to where we have seen the case clearance rate of almost all the courts is beyond 100 per cent and that is basically to mean that on any given year they clear more than they are receiving meaning they are reducing the backlog,” noted Olwande.
Isaac Ruto who is a member of the Judicial Service Commission cited the need for more support to the judiciary.
“Part of what we plan to do is to talk to parliamentarians so that they can assist us in some places where we can get land from the county so we may be able to put up some structures so that justice is taken closer to the user” Ruto said.
He added: “We may also be requesting the public to bear with and understand the financial challenges but we would want the public also to support us in the quest to get allocation of more resources that may be should be fixed on a certain percentage because certain situations have hindered the delivery of justice.