This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
On July 23, 2019, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua called for the establishment of a special court division to handle corruption cases, citing the need for swift justice to deter graft.
Speaking at a press briefing at his Mavoko office in Athi River, Governor Mutua emphasized the importance of empowering the judiciary with personnel to ensure that corruption cases are dispensed with swiftly.
He noted that the recent purge on suspects of the Kimwarer and Arror dams scandal highlighted the need for systems to be put in place to ensure speedy dispensation of justice in order to recover billions of shillings lost through blatant theft and dubious deals.
"To achieve this, the judiciary will need to deploy enough officers dedicated only to the trial of corruption cases," Dr. Mutua said. "This means, judicial officers gazetted to hear corruption cases should be freed from the normal judicial work so as to concentrate and hear these matters speedily," he added.
He urged Parliament to facilitate the arrangement through adequate allocation of financial resources to actualize the plan, emphasizing that the judiciary cannot deliver when it is constrained financially.
"We can't expect the judiciary to deliver when it is constrained financially. We should not be slashing the judiciary's budget and yet make demands for expeditious hearings," Dr. Mutua said.
He also called for the Chief Justice to clearly state the capacity required to facilitate judicial operations in the war against corruption, saying that this would enable Kenyans to dialogue and facilitate judicial operations.
"I urge the Chief Justice to clearly state the capacity he requires so that Kenyans can dialogue and facilitate judicial operations in the war against corruption," Dr. Mutua said.
