By Rhoda Mutuku
Chief Justice David Maraga warned that corrupt judicial officers will be dealt with accordance with the law.
The CJ urged the public not to paint the entire Judiciary as corrupt but appealed to those with evidence of judicial officers involved in corruption, not to shy off.
“Some people when they lose their cases, they attribute their losses to some other things. I am not by any chance saying those other things don’t exist. There are occasions when we have had issues of integrity,” he said.
Maraga who has now finalized his Coastal tour inspecting construction of various court stations, was speaking at Mombasa Law Courts after laying the foundation stone for construction of the Sh 445 million ultra-Modern Law Courts christened “justice tower”.
The modern court building where the Mombasa High Court will be hosted will include 80 court rooms, nine chamber for judges and Magistrates, LSK lobby, an area for lactating mothers, offices for the Director of Public Prosecution, probation offices, offices for the police who bring prisoners to Court, among other offices.
Maraga said the court has been designed putting into consideration Mombasa’s culture and geographical, thereby offering a more conducive working environment for Court operations in Mombasa, as opposed to old structures.
“The design of this building includes contributions by the local people and the design itself is going to have features and values of the people of Mombasa who will be using it”
The CJ appealed to the officers who will be operating in the upcoming modern Law courts among them Judges and Magistrates, LSK and all the stake holders in the justice chain, to “dispense justice.”
“It will be sad if a building known as the justice tower does not dispense justice. The public are watching us to see what we do,” the CJ noted.
He added “We can only maintain public confidence in what we do, if we offer services with integrity, we offer services expeditiously and caring to the people we serve. Gone are the days when the judiciary used to operate in a clouded kind of system. I am happy to say the public these days are free.
