This archive report was first published on 16 September 2019.
Kenya's judiciary resumed work on Monday, September 16, 2019, after a month-long recess that saw a duty judge stationed in every division to handle urgent matters.
During the August vacation, the duty judges were tasked with handling matters from court stations with a single judge, which would be directed to the nearest High Court station where a recess duty judge was sitting.
Before the recess, the judges held their annual colloquium in Mombasa, themed 'Balancing judicial independence and accountability.' The four-day conference was attended by judges from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, Environment and Land Court, and the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
Some of the topics discussed during the conference included balancing the scales of justice, judicial independence, accountability, and integrity in the changing face of Kenya, as well as emerging jurisprudence and a critique of the judicial approach on sexual offenses and the age of consent.
Major cases expected to be heard before the judges break for the December vacation include the trial of Migori Governor Okoth Obado and two of his aides over the murder of Rongo University student Sharon Otieno, the trial of Joseph Irungu and Jacque Maribe who have denied killing Monica Kimani, and the trial of five people, including four police officers, who have been charged with killing lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda, and Joseph Muiruri, a taxi driver.
