Judiciary to Train Magistrates Afresh Ahead of The August Polls

According to Koome, the judiciary is seeking to train magistrates on electoral preparedness so as to ensure that electoral justice is served on any disputes arising from the upcoming general elections.

Koome has also said that 120 special courts have already been gazetted to handle election-related disputes in the country.

“We will soon also ask for a training to be mounted for 120 special courts that we gazetted in the judiciary to deal with the electoral offenses because we must continue to read from one script,” said Koome.

“When a prosecutor is empowered knowing all the ropes in the electoral law it doesn't make sense if they are appearing before a magistrate who has no clue about what a kims kit or an electoral offense is. We must move in tandem.” Koome added.

Koome has also assured Kenyans that the judiciary is determined to build trust in the judicial system.

“No one is above the law, whoever commits an offense will be dealt with firmly and with fairness and justice,” Koome stated.

Koome spoke in Nairobi during the launch of the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions’ (ODPP) Compendium on Electoral Justice at the Kenya school of Government.

1/6 Spoke at the start of a workshop on Election Preparedness organised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and launch of the @ODPP_KE Compendium on Electoral Justice. pic.twitter.com/p7QCEfVgPv

— CJ Martha K Koome (@CJMarthaKoome) April 4, 2022

At the meeting, Koome has also revealed that she had already issued a directive to magistrates handling speech matters under the National Cohesion and Integration (NCI)Act to finalize all pending hate speech matters by June.

“We are also working on a plan to operationalize hate speech courts in hotspot areas to ensure that they are ready all the time to hear all these matters,” Koome added.