This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
Kenya's Judiciary has failed to live up to its promise to clear the high case backlog in courts, with the backlog standing at 341,056 cases as at the end of the last financial year.
When Chief Justice David Maraga assumed office in October 2016, he vowed to clear the backlog by the end of his tenure in December 2020, with no case older than three years in court.
However, with just a few months to go before Maraga's retirement, his pledge has proved to be a pipe dream.
Official reports show that the backlog has worsened in recent weeks following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the earliest hearing date for a case filed at the Environment and Land Court at Milimani, Nairobi, now set for 2022.
Maraga has blamed President Uhuru Kenyatta for the crisis, citing the delay in appointing 41 judges recommended by the Judicial Service Commission for appointment to the Court of Appeal, the Environment and Land Court, and the Employment and Labour Relations Court last year.
However, critics argue that Maraga is trying to save face as he finally comes to terms with the fact that time has run out, and he is inevitably bound to go down as one of the worst CJs Kenya has ever had.
Maraga could have given a more reasonable excuse for his underperformance, given Kenyans are well informed and have been daily witnesses of the dysfunction in the corridors of justice that has precipitated the current state of affairs.
