This archive report was first published on 27 July 2019.
Published on July 27, 2019, the Court of Appeal in Kisumu is struggling to reduce its backlog of cases. President of the court William Ouko has taken steps to address the issue by leading 15 judges to handle pending appeals.
The court has approximately 1,500 cases, with the majority dating back to 2014. Prisoners have been protesting the lengthy delays in the hearing and determination of their cases.
Deputy Registrar Joan Wambilyanga confirmed the planned judicial exercise, stating that a cause list has been prepared. The judges will handle appeals from 2014 and 2015, with each bench expected to handle five cases per day.
According to court officials, the judges have been scheduled to handle about 20 cases each day. The court is one of many struggling to reduce its backlog.
President Ouko had previously announced that his office would constitute four benches to hear pending appeals and applications in April this year. In 2017, the court struggled to handle election petitions filed before it, with the Judiciary intervening to help dispense the cases.
Earlier this year, inmates at Kodiaga Prison narrated their frustrations to the Ombudsman, citing long delays, missing files, and bribery as contributing factors to the delays.
